Korea Lacks Pre-Coordination of Bids for Int’l Events
By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
Perhaps no other country in the world is as forthcoming about hosting international events as Korea. Just this year alone, it has launched bids for two rounds of Olympic Games and a FIFA World Cup tournament, as it prepares for a host of other international sporting and cultural events it has already succeeded in bringing to Gwangju, Incheon, Yeosu and other cities.
However, a simultaneous rush from various local governments to host these events has led to a woeful waste of the nation's budget and diplomatic capacity, mainly due to a lack of screening of bidding schedules in advance and pre-assessment of resultant national interests.
Led by Rep. Song Min-soon of the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), some legislators have begun campaigning for legislation for a pre-coordination of concurrent bids to maximize Korea's success rate and state assistance. The bill was most recently put under deliberation during the April National Assembly session.
Discussions for the bill carry a particular relevance at a time when both Pyeongchang and Busan have displayed an unwavering determination to become future Olympic hosts.
^Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, is bidding for the 2018 Winter Olympics, while Busan is seeking to bring the 2020 Summer Games to the nation's southeastern port city.
On top of competition from other candidate cities worldwide, the two cities have entered an intense domestic rivalry in vying for the attention and support from the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) and the central government.
``It is just not possible for one country to succeed in hosting the Olympics, the World Cup and others all at once,'' Rep. Song told The Korea Times.
``Korea must decide which event should be given priority and direct all our energy to hosting that event. Simultaneous bidding campaigns have proved counter-productive for some of the events that we tried to host in the past,'' Song added, apparently referring to the failed bid of Pyeongchang to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, in 2007.
It has been reported that one of the reasons for Pyeongchang's failure was that Korea had been confirmed around that time as the host of the 2018 Asian Games, which will be held in the western port city of Incheon.
Rep. Song and 35 other legislators are suggesting that legislative measures be taken to establish a central government comprehensive pre-analysis of each event to examine what effect it would have on Korea's global image, economic impact and regional development.
A former foreign minister, Song recently held a conference to publicize the legislation at the National Assembly in Yeoudio, Seoul.
Participants at the conference said that a proper implementation of the bill would contribute to raising the success rate of the candidacy of Korean cities for hosting mega events like the Olympics or the World Cup.
When implemented, a prime ministerial committee for reviewing and coordinating bids for international events would be established, comprised of officials from the Office of the Prime Minister and the foreign, culture and finance ministries, among others.
In addition, any local government bodies or private organizations with an intent to host an international event must submit an outline of its bidding details to the central government which will then forward them to the prime ministerial committee for review.
Also, any organizations entering a bid to host international events without properly adhering to the procedures of the bill will be excluded from requesting state financial assistance exceeding 1 billion won. Those with a design to host an event that costs more than 10 billion won will have to submit themselves under a feasibility survey from a professional research body.
One of the aims of the legislation is to discourage Korea's excessive number of simultaneous bids for international events, which has been a disadvantage in for convincing other countries of Korea's candidacy through effective negotiations.
``We have had problems with negotiations with other countries because they have the perception that Korea is going for too many events at once,'' said Cho Dae-shik, a director general at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stressing that the legislation is necessary for local governments to start talking with the foreign ministry as they plan their bidding tactics.
Meanwhile, Busan's Olympic ambition has publicly surfaced at a time when various cities are setting the stage for forthcoming major global events. Following the successful experience of holding the 2002 Asian Games, Hur Nam-sik, mayor of Busan, first announced an official bid in November 2004 at the Busan APEC forum.
The host city is expected be selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in mid-2013. Additionally, the Korea Football Association has proclaimed that it will go after the 2022 World Cup.