South Korea has selected Pyeongchangas its representative to bid for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games after the city narrowly lost out to Vancouver in the race to host the 2010 Games, the country's Olympic Committee (KOC) said on Thursday.

"The KOC board has selected Pyeongchang as the candidate for the 2014 Winter Olympics," KOC president Lee Yun-taek told YTN television.

"This preliminary decision will be finalized at a general meeting of the KOC on December 29," he added.

Pyeongchang, located to the east of the capital Seoul in the mountainous province of Kangwon, was chosen ahead of local rival Muju.

The government had also pledged 3.2 billion U.S. dollars in public money to support the bid, most of it going towards a new rail link to Seoul.

Pyeongchang led the first round of voting at last year's International Olympic Committee members meeting in the Czech Republic to decide the 2010 hosts but narrowly lost to Vancouver, Canada in a second ballot.

Source: Xinhua