The government is preparing to form a committee next month to bid for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

The decision came at a meeting Friday between Prime Minister Lee Hai-chan, Culture & Tourism Minister Chung Dong-chae and Governor of Gangwon Province Kim Jin-sun.

Bids are to be filed by July to the International Olympic Committee, which will select the host venue in June of next year.

In July, 2003, Pyeongchang, a winter resort some 200 kilometers east of Seoul, narrowly lost its bid to host the 2010 Winter Olympics to Vancouver.