Han Sung-joo |
By Yoon Chul
The 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup was deemed a success, enthralling the people and football supporters alike.
More than one million people gathered at venues such as Seoul Plaza to watch the global sports gala on huge outdoor screens.
World Cup fever became the talk of the town amid the strong passion, and has now prompted people to hope to see the event being held once again in Korea.
Gearing up to realize this dream, Seoul is bidding for the 2022 World Cup. Han Sung-joo, chairman of the bidding committee, is now the standard bearer to that end, and explained why Korea should be the last man standing.
“We held half of the World Cup in 2002,” Han said in an interview with The Korea Times.
“The 2022 Korea World Cup will be devoted to peace in Asia and the rest of the world. To further this end, we hope to hold some games in North Korea,” he said.
“We need to get the agreement of FIFA and North Korea, but as the former is expected to support the move and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il favors the World Cup, our plan could be realized,” said Han who had served as foreign minister and Korean ambassador to the United States. He is now teaching at Korea University.
“FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter expressed positive views about this during a meeting in Zurich in November 2009.”
Han stressed that the 1988 Seoul Olympics helped to end the Cold War. “If we play host to the 2022 World Cup and hold some games in North Korea, it will immensely help ease tensions in Asia,” he said.
“The Korea World Cup will accelerate the drive toward ‘One Korea,”’ he added, noting, “FIFA seems to consider what legacies each World Cup can generate in deciding on the host nation. The promotion of peace in Asia is one of the best legacies that the World Cup could bring.”
He added Korea’s passion in 2002 could be a significant legacy. “‘Fan fests’ started in Korea in 2002.” Han said. “Since then fan fests have been held in Germany in 2006, and Johannesburg this year.”
The fan fests are a new form of cheering and way of supporting teams. In 2002 Koreans gathered at outdoor sites nationwide, and as the national team kept advancing, their numbers grew. More and more areas were allocated for them with government support.
Among the many places in Korea, Seoul Plaza was the biggest and the Mecca of fan fests. At that time more than 200,000 fans assembled there and enjoyed the games in an amazing atmosphere.
When Korean broadcasters showed scenes of a huge number of fans gathered at the plaza all wearing red shirts, the foreign press reported on the football fever. There were even rumors that the images had been computer generated.
“The passion of Korea is amazing,” Han said.
“When the inspection team for the 2022 World Cup came to Korea in July, the inspectors had a lot of curiosity about fans gathering at Seoul Plaza.
“We explained the knowhow of preparations regarding safety, traffic control and other facilities. The inspectors seem to have been impressed,” Han said.
The 70-year-old chairman also emphasized that Korea had huge knowhow to manage big events with excellent venues.
As Korea already has many football stadia, the committee plans to construct only one more.
If the Korea World Cup is held in Korea, the matches will be played in 14 existing stadia in 12 cities. The Asiad Stadium in Incheon, which will be the main stadium for the Asian Games in 2014, will be the only new one.
Having enough stadiums to host the World Cup is a big benefit for bidding nations.
FIFA has already donated more than $30 million for the 2014 World Cup to host, Brazil, which expects to need $1 billion for the event and has called for more aid.
The United States, Japan and Australia started bidding for both the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, but the latter two countries have already dropped out of the running for 2018. They will now compete with Korea and Qatar for the 2022 finals
“Some people say Korea is greedy in making a World Cup bid again, but this seems to have come from a misunderstanding,” Han said.
“This time the host country will be decided 12 years before the World Cup. If Korea hosts the event, it will for be the first time in 20 years. Mexico hosted the global football event twice with an interval of 16 years.
“In addition, we didn’t hold all the World Cup — only half of it,” Han said.
He also emphasized that Korea’s World Cup bid would give huge inspiration to many developing countries.
Half a century ago, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world. But now it will play host to the G20 summit in November.
Two thirds of the members of FIFA are developing countries and if the World Cup is held in Korea, it will provide inspiration for the less developed countries he believes.
“The Korea World Cup can generate inspiration, passion and peace. We have already prepared an attractive infrastructure for a successful football festival,” Han said with strong confidence in the new World Cup bid.
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'한국인 성매매 정보 알려달라' 시드니 발칵
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