PM vows all support for PyeongChang Games
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Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo, third from right, speaks during a meeting about issues related to the upcoming PyeongChang Olympics at the Government Complex Building in Seoul, Friday. / Yonhap
By Baek Byung-yeul
Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo pledged Friday to do everything necessary for the success of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics by forming a trinity of government, Olympic organizing committee and sport ministry officials.
“We (those involved in preparing the Olympics) have cleared up controversial issues over the hosting of the PyeongChang Olympics, and should put forth every effort to prepare for the event,” Lee said at the meeting.
Lee emceed the meeting and top figures involved in the international sporting event were present, including Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Kim Jong-deok, Gangwon Province Governor Choi Moon-soon and Cho Yang-ho, president of the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG).
During the meeting, Lee reiterated that “there will be no game sharing.”
“We ― the culture and sports ministry, organizing committee and the Gangwon Province ― confirmed that we all agreed to host the event only at the hosting city in PyeongChang,” Lee said.
There has been a controversy over “game sharing” with other cities after the International Olympic Committee approved the Agenda 2020 initiative, which allows Olympic hosts to share some events with other cities to reduce snowballing costs for the mega sporting competition.
Also at the meeting, the Bokwang Phoenix Park, a ski resort in the hosting town in Gangwon Province, was chosen as the venue for the Olympic Games snowboard and freestyle skiing events.
The Phoenix Park, owned by Bokwang Group, a former affiliate of the Samsung Group, has disagreed with the organizing committee over payment for use of its facility.
Culture and Sports Minister Kim said the two sides had an overnight meeting on Thursday and reached a compromise.
Snowboard and freestyle skiing were the last remaining events whose venue had yet to be determined. The organizing committee had earlier considered moving them to another venue in the province.
The minister said that the culture and sports ministry would also seek measures to boost competitiveness of the athletes competing in the 2018 Olympics in cooperation with the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) and the Korea Paralympic Committee (KPC).
The goal for Korea is to send athletes in every event and garner at least 20 medals in the Olympics, and to secure, at most, six medals (two golds, two silvers and two bronzes) at the Paralympics.