The southern port city of Busan, South Korea, has postponed its bid for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games following Tokyo’s selection as the host city of the 2020 Summer Games.
Busan city officials said Monday they will bid instead for the 2028 Summer Games because the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is unlikely to select two consecutive Summer Games in northeast Asia since there is a tradition of spreading the Olympics across different continents in consecutive years.
Busan formally announced it was bidding for the 2020 Games in 2005. In 2002 it hosted the Summer Asian Games, giving it the confidence to eye a much larger international sporting event, reports The Chosun.
The city then postponed its bid when PyeongChang was selected for the 2018 Winter Games.
An official said it is the city’s long-term goal to host the Olympics and it would now use the time to get its infrastructure ready for a bid.
It hopes that the 2020 Games in Tokyo will boost tourism in Busan, which is just a few hours away by plane, and plans to develop tour programs and facilities to attract more visitors.
