'PyeongChang Olympics are clean despite Choi Soon-sil scandal'

Lee Hee-beom, president of the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic.

By Baek Byung-yeul

PYEONGCHANG ― The chief organizer for the 2018 Winter Olympics said Tuesday there is no room for corruption in the country’s first-ever Winter Games.

In a meeting with local reporters at the resort town of PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, Lee Hee-beom, president of the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic (POCOG), said the PyeongChang Games might have been a target for corruption by Choi Soon-sil, President Park Geun-hye’s longtime friend, but there was no fraud in any contracts related to the Olympics.

“I know there have been reports indicating Choi attempted to pocket profits in various deals related to the PyeongChang Olympics. I admit that the Winter Games have been the target for such corruption but I can clearly say that no such attempts actually materialized,” Lee told reporters.

Korea’s sports scene has been suffering the consequences of the Choi scandal starting from last October as she allegedly influenced state affairs.

Lee said most of the construction contracts, including an arena for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics, were made before the Choi scandal surfaced.

“After taking the chief organizing post, I looked at every construction contract. The contract with Daelim Industrial for building the stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics was made before the scandal. Some say Choi may benefit from the budget for the Olympics, which is 13 trillion won ($11 billion), but we have used 11 trillion won for the infrastructure sector.

“We spent that amount of money to build an express railway and highway connecting Seoul and here and repairing existing highways, and the budget for the infrastructure was provided by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Gangwon Province, not us,” he said.

Lee said he is fully aware that the 2018 Games is lesser known than previous Olympics. But starting from the one-year countdown event, which falls on Feb. 9, the organizing committee will boost its efforts to promote the Winter Olympics around the world.

“I know that we are criticized for little public awareness of the 2018 Winter Olympics. I expect the one-year countdown event will add momentum to boost public awareness worldwide,” Lee said.

Speaking of the POCOG’s budget plan, Lee said he secured 841 billion won ($714 million) in corporate sponsorships last year.

“When I took the post, I pledged that I would secure 90 percent of the target budget (940 billion won) from the business community, but I couldn’t due to the sluggish economy. I will try to secure more from state-run companies to meet the target,” Lee said.

The chief organizer added he is still finding ways to use Olympic venues after the Games. “It is very important for us not to leave the Olympic facilities abandoned and become a white elephant,” Lee said.

The POCOG said they launched a new website for those who are not familiar with winter sports rules. At the website (

www.pyeongchang2018.com/education

), available in English, sports fans can learn more about the origins and rules of the winter sports. There are video clips helping visitors understand the various sports and educational materials for students are also available.