S. Korea to host soccer match for peace

SEOUL, May 29 (UPI) -- South Korea is choosing sports as a way to promote peace in the world and on the divided Korean peninsula.

The country will host an international soccer club match in July designed for such a purpose.

In a press conference at a Seoul hotel Tuesday, the organizing committee unveiled a star-studded list of participants for 2007 Peace Cup Korea, a continental football tournament for the top eight clubs from three continents. They include English Premier League clubs Reading and Bolton Wanderers, Mexico's Chivas de Guadalajara, Argentina's River Plate and Italy's Udinese, among others. The tournament is set to take place on July 12-21.

Organizers said the biennial sports event is aimed at promoting world peace and harmony, noting soccer matches have helped reinvigorate war-torn, poverty-ridden people across the globe. The first such match was held in 2003.

"The Peace Cup tournament is aimed at conveying to the world a culture and vision for peace through football," said Kwak Chung-hwan, chairman of the organizing committee.

The Peace Cup Korea is organized by the Sun Moon Soccer Foundation and Interreligious and International Peace Council -- both established by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church, the founder of News World Communications Inc., which owns United Press International.