S. Korea unveils Olympic training camp in London

South Korean officials unveiled their main training base for Olympians to the media on Tuesday as athletes geared up for the upcoming Summer Games kicking off this weekend.

The Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) set up the camp for more than 270 athletes in 10 sports at Brunel University, nestled in the quiet neighborhood of Uxbridge in the northwestern part of London.

Athletes and coaches in sports including boxing, taekwondo, handball, fencing, judo and table tennis have been put up at dormitories while training at different buildings across the campus.

According to the KOC, the university offers training facilities for five sports, while athletes in other events can tune up for the July 27-Aug. 12 Olympics in other, nearby facilities.

The opening of the Brunel camp marks the first time that South Korea has set up a separate training base for an Olympic Games held overseas. The country's stated goal in London is to win at least 10 gold medals for its third consecutive top-10 finish in the medal table.

The KOC has also tried to replicate in London the training environments from the National Training Center in Seoul, South Korea's largest training facility for Olympic athletes. Nine cooks from the Seoul center have traveled to London to serve Korean meals for athletes, and a team of four doctors and assistants are also on hand to help treat bumps and bruises.

Also on Tuesday, the school hosted a welcoming reception for the South Korean delegation on campus. Lord Wakeham, chancellor of the university, offered his special thanks for Koreans for their stay and wished them great success at the Olympics.

The Brunel camp had been shut to the media as officials here feared unnecessary distraction for the athletes. They will enter the athletes' village in downtown London in the coming days as the Olympic Games near. (Yonhap News)