IOC chief satisfied with PyeongChang progress

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, left, breaks a board after he was presented with an honorary 10th-degree black belt from World Taekwondo Federation President Choue Chung-won, right, at the federation’s headquarters in central Seoul, Wednesday. Bach and Choue discussed ways to promote taekwondo. / Courtesy of World Taekwondo Federation

By Nam Hyun-woo

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach met with the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics organizers Wednesday and said the Games’ preparations are “on track.”

Bach arrived in Korea on Wednesday for his two-day visit and attended a luncheon hosted by PyeongChang chief organizer Cho Yang-ho and corporate sponsors of the event. He later paid a courtesy visit to President Park Geun-hye to ask for the Korean government’s support for the 2018 Winter Games.

“We have seen that the preparation for the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang is really on track,” Bach said during a press conference at Press Center in central Seoul. “There has been a great progress made since my last visit.”

“It was really a pleasure to see all the construction getting off the ground. It is very important to have an opportunity experience the firm commitment of President Park toward the success of this Olympic Winter Games,” he said.

The 2018 Games will take place in the alpine town of PyeongChang from Feb. 9 to 25, 2018. It will be the first Winter Games held in an Asian country other than Japan and will be the largest ever with a record 102 events.

All construction has now started and should be finished for test events scheduled for next February. “We are now very confident the test events will happen in time and be successful,” he said.

For North Korea’s participation in the PyeongChang Games, Bach said the IOC is ready to support North Korean athletes if they need assistance.

“The IOC is helping all 206 national committees in the world to train their athletes and to help them qualify for the Games.”

The IOC president reportedly demanded South Korea exempt foreign athletes, coaches and foreign corporate sponsors from paying income taxes, corporate taxes and value added taxes.

Earlier this month, the government announced that foreign companies and those who do not reside here will be free from corporate and income taxes related to the PyeongChang Games. Regarding value added tax, the government said tax authorities will conduct a thorough review.

In return, Park reportedly asked Bach to help Koreans to represent their country in the global sports community.

Concerning the Korean seat at the IOC, however, Bach said at the conference that “Germany has two IOC members just like Korea. So Korea is already well represented.” A Korean IOC member Moon Dae-sung’s term will expire following the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics next year. Countries can have one member each on the commission.

During his brief stay in Korea, Bach was awarded an honorary 10th degree black belt by the World Taekwondo Federation at its headquarters in central Seoul.

He will fly to China to attend the 2015 World Championships in Athletics, which is scheduled to kick off on Saturday.

Bach was accompanied by Gunilla Lindberg, head of the IOC's Coordination Commission on PyeongChang, Christophe Dube, the IOC's executive director and Christophe De Kepper, director general of the Olympic body.