Korea wins Olympics with long-term strategy
By Arthur I. Cyr
The success of South Korea in securing the 2018 Winter Olympics is a major victory with global implications, including but reaching well beyond the world of competitive sports. The games are to be held in the city of Pyeongchang, in mountainous Gangwon Province.
Securing strong support and warm endorsement from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has to be particularly sweet for South Korea's people and leaders. The Committee turned down persuasive well prepared submissions from Seoul to host the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics.
Skiing and other winter sports are relatively new to South Korea, but there is nothing new about frigid freezing winter weather on that peninsula. The Korean War of 1950-53 included agonizing winter reversals for unprepared American troops.
What has changed in the past half century is the extraordinarily rapid economic development of the Republic of Korea. Widespread interest in winter sports is a direct reflection of South Korea's new status as one of the richest nations in the world.
Securing the Olympics is part of a sustained, long-term strategy by South Korea. Competitive sports are but one component of a geostrategic effort to pursue economic, political, and more general international influence.
As early as 1970, South Korea planned to host the Asian Games, which are officially recognized by the IOC as second only to the Olympics in scale and impact. Unfortunately, in that year a combination of economic problems and security concerns intervened. The games were held in Thailand with Korea's financial support.
South Korea did host the Asian Games in 1986, followed by the Summer Olympics in 1988. These tournaments in turn reinforced South Korean emphasis on regional and international organizations.
The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation organization (APEC) is a legacy of President George H.W. Bush's administration, reflecting his and Secretary of State James Baker's determination to put Pacific cooperation among nations more on a par with the network of institutions that define Atlantic area international relations. Busan South Korea was the site of the 1995 APEC Leaders' Conference.
In November 2010, the G20 summit of the major economies in the world was held in Seoul. In April of that year, President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea was featured at the Business for Environment Summit. The conference was designed to follow up on the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Copenhagen.
Korean career diplomat Ban Ki-moon is now Secretary General of the United Nations. Arguably, this is the first unequivocally pro-Western and pro-U.S. head of the world body since Dag Hammarskjold's tenure a half century ago.
An important Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed in 2007 but legislative approval has stalled, reflecting growth of protectionist pressures in both countries. The accord is the first substantial bilateral trade agreement involving the U.S. since the 1993 NAFTA treaty.
The Korea Institute for International Economic Policy estimates FTA approval will expand South Korean exports to the U.S. by 12 per cent annually, expanding to 15 per cent longer term. The Korea Rural Economic Institute predicts U.S. agricultural exports to South Korea, currently $2.8 billion, could double after the FTA is approved.
This would be a good moment for President Barack Obama to express congratulations to a special ally of the U.S., while simultaneously initiating a bipartisan effort to pass the FTA.
Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College. E-mail him at acyr@carthage.edu.