Athletes' Village officially opens
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North Korean athletes have lunch at a cafeteria in Athletes’ Village in Guwol-dong, central Incheon, Friday. The first batch of the North Korean delegation for the Asian Games arrived there Thursday night, the day before the official opening of the village. / Yonhap
By Baek Byung-yeul
INCHEON ― The atmosphere at the Athletes’ Village for the upcoming Incheon Asian Games was lively enough on Friday to show that the sporting event was imminent.
New apartments and the surrounding facilities looked fully-prepared to house some 15,000 athletes and officials from 45 countries comfortably for 16-day event, which begins in just one week.
The organizing committee also stressed that they are now ready.
“Making the athletes feel comfortable is the first priority for us,” Kim Young-soo, president of the Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee said during an opening ceremony of the village in Guwol-dong of the city. “We hope they can think of this place as their own home.”
The village has 22 new apartments with flats available in three different sizes ― 72, 84 and 101 square meters and also houses a clinic, a cafeteria, a fitness club, a police station and a laundry room.
One of interesting features was the service facility center for athletes.
Located between the dining hall and the clinic, the building features different kinds of amenities including a billiard room, an internet cafe, a hair and nail salon, a convenience store, a laundry room, a flower shop and more.
A volunteer worker at a live music room said, “We are pretty much ready to welcome athletes for Asian Games. They would be able to relieve their stress ahead of their upcoming matches.”
Next to the facility, a football-field size dining hall is located.
Elisa Lee, the chief of the village said, “The cafeteria, which is capable of serving 3,500 people at a time, will be open 24 hours during the Asian Games period, and about 80 kinds of food will be served for each meal.”
Apart from newly-built facilities, organizers said the village will be operated with a high level of security for athletes’ safety during the Asiad period.
In fact, a number of police officers and security guards were easily spotted during the media preview event and the opening ceremony.
As of Friday, the first batch of delegations from China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan and North Korea have already arrived with some hanging their national flag near their room windows.
North Korean athletes and reporters were especially the center of attention, who arrived in Incheon the previous night. South and North Koreas have been tense for political disputes, especially after the latter conducted a high number of rocket and missile test-launches this year.
Against the backdrop of this, South Korea has recently removed the flags of all competing nations from its streets ahead of the Asiad because of protests about the flying of North Korea’s flags.
Now, North Korean flags are only seen hoisted in a limited number of places such as stadiums and the Athletes’ Village.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Incheon citizens who attended the opening ceremony expressed their hopes for a successful Asiad in their town, as they welcomed the incoming athletes.
The organizing committee has organized volunteers living in the city during the games, dubbed “civic supporters.”
Kim, a member of civic supporters, who refused to offer his full name, said “we have been educated on several situations after having practicing the starting ceremony last month.”
The taxi driver added that about a thousand his colleagues in Incheon area are currently serving as civic supporters.
“As a volunteer, I hope that athletes and visitors for Asian Games can have good impression on the city. And as a taxi driver, I pledge that I won’t lose my smile when servicing passengers,” he said.