By Andrew Salmon
I have just returned from four days reporting on the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, Gangwon Province. It was a revelatory trip.
First impressions? Dodgy. I checked into the "hotel" I had booked online and paid 250,000 won ($230) per night for. It squatted down a side street in a red-light district. Yep: My hotel was a 70,000 won per night love motel with hotel aspirations. Still: it was clean, hot water was plentiful, and the TV worked sometimes. From there, it was all uphill.
Gangneung's media center was a benchmark. In the Seamarq Hotel, it offered: 24/7 access; friendly and helpful young staff; floor-to-ceiling views over the East Sea; weapons-grade Wi-Fi; multiple TV sets; free lunches and dinners; unlimited coffee; and deluxe urinary and excretory facilities. This was the finest, most relaxing media center I have ever labored in, beating the trousers off facilities in Rio, Moscow, Queretaro, Mexico City and Gangnam.
Public transport was spot on ― and with these Games being spread across a province, rather than in one town or village, it had to be. A high-tech system of shuttle buses was so complex that it was, on Days 1 and 2, fiendishly tricky to navigate.
By Day 3, however, staff and volunteers had mastered it. In Gangneung, public buses ran free of charge. Moreover, drivers had been equipped with translation apps on their smartphones. Even taxis sported "reserved" or "empty" digital signs in English ― innovations unknown in Seoul.
Gangwon has anglicized. I was astonished, in a side-street octopus restaurant in Sokcho, to be presented with a well-translated English menu.
Even public civility was upgraded. Nowhere in Korea have I encountered a destination where drivers actually halt at pedestrian crossings. In Gangneung, it was de rigeur. Every single local I met ― from cops to restaurateurs to taxi drivers to museum attendants ― was polite and friendly.
To sum up: I was mega impressed. And there is more good news.
For decades, Gangwon Province was cut off from national transport nets, and under-invested in: The province is home to just 1.5 million Gangwonites. Now, in an Olympic legacy project that will pay dividends for decades, a brand-new KTX track speeds you from Seoul to the east coast in two hours. The rail trip used to take six.
And a brand new highway across the peninsula's spectacular high country speeds you from east to west (or vice versa), chopping 40 minutes from the previous road travel time.
These infrastructure-links put the province within easy and convenient striking distance of the Seoul metropolitan area and its 25 million souls. This means anyone who wants to combine the delights of clear skies, fine views, fresh foodstuffs and sea air with the advantages of metropolitan access is catered to.
Now, let us extend our gaze from the regional to the national level. Frankly, I was unclear on Korea's messaging for the 2018 Winter Games.
The 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics implemented a top-down national mission, showcasing a surging new economic powerhouse, a newly democratized polity and an arriviste nation. The 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup showcased a Korea that was a fun, funky and aspirational, via a bottom-up, spontaneous street carnival of sheer joy.
What is the mission for 2018 Winter Olympics ― an event that Korea bid for three times? In Seoul, the lack of crackling electricity, the sheer disinterest, is almost palpable. The capital's populace takes a "been there, done that" attitude to global mega-sport events.
In fact, this is a plus ― a sign of maturity. Koreans are now sophisticated, confident and relaxed enough to not promote their nation to the world so furiously and so desperately.
A Korean colleague of mine, on social media, predicted that PyeongChang 2018 will prove to be a disaster. I differ.
On the regional level, it provides a boon for the country's most under-invested province, Gangwon. On the national level, Koreans have matured to the point where they no longer invest national angst in national branding.
There is one more question, though. On the diplomatic, political and strategic levels, will PyeongChang 2018 herald a breakthrough in inter-Korean relations?
On that, the jury is out.
Andrew Salmon (andrewcsalmon@yahoo.co.uk) is a Seoul-based reporter and author.
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First impressions? Dodgy. I checked into the "hotel" I had booked online and paid 250,000 won ($230) per night for. It squatted down a side street in a red-light district. Yep: My hotel was a 70,000 won per night love motel with hotel aspirations. Still: it was clean, hot water was plentiful, and the TV worked sometimes. From there, it was all uphill.
Gangneung's media center was a benchmark. In the Seamarq Hotel, it offered: 24/7 access; friendly and helpful young staff; floor-to-ceiling views over the East Sea; weapons-grade Wi-Fi; multiple TV sets; free lunches and dinners; unlimited coffee; and deluxe urinary and excretory facilities. This was the finest, most relaxing media center I have ever labored in, beating the trousers off facilities in Rio, Moscow, Queretaro, Mexico City and Gangnam.
Public transport was spot on ― and with these Games being spread across a province, rather than in one town or village, it had to be. A high-tech system of shuttle buses was so complex that it was, on Days 1 and 2, fiendishly tricky to navigate.
By Day 3, however, staff and volunteers had mastered it. In Gangneung, public buses ran free of charge. Moreover, drivers had been equipped with translation apps on their smartphones. Even taxis sported "reserved" or "empty" digital signs in English ― innovations unknown in Seoul.
Gangwon has anglicized. I was astonished, in a side-street octopus restaurant in Sokcho, to be presented with a well-translated English menu.
Even public civility was upgraded. Nowhere in Korea have I encountered a destination where drivers actually halt at pedestrian crossings. In Gangneung, it was de rigeur. Every single local I met ― from cops to restaurateurs to taxi drivers to museum attendants ― was polite and friendly.
To sum up: I was mega impressed. And there is more good news.
For decades, Gangwon Province was cut off from national transport nets, and under-invested in: The province is home to just 1.5 million Gangwonites. Now, in an Olympic legacy project that will pay dividends for decades, a brand-new KTX track speeds you from Seoul to the east coast in two hours. The rail trip used to take six.
And a brand new highway across the peninsula's spectacular high country speeds you from east to west (or vice versa), chopping 40 minutes from the previous road travel time.
These infrastructure-links put the province within easy and convenient striking distance of the Seoul metropolitan area and its 25 million souls. This means anyone who wants to combine the delights of clear skies, fine views, fresh foodstuffs and sea air with the advantages of metropolitan access is catered to.
Now, let us extend our gaze from the regional to the national level. Frankly, I was unclear on Korea's messaging for the 2018 Winter Games.
The 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics implemented a top-down national mission, showcasing a surging new economic powerhouse, a newly democratized polity and an arriviste nation. The 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup showcased a Korea that was a fun, funky and aspirational, via a bottom-up, spontaneous street carnival of sheer joy.
What is the mission for 2018 Winter Olympics ― an event that Korea bid for three times? In Seoul, the lack of crackling electricity, the sheer disinterest, is almost palpable. The capital's populace takes a "been there, done that" attitude to global mega-sport events.
In fact, this is a plus ― a sign of maturity. Koreans are now sophisticated, confident and relaxed enough to not promote their nation to the world so furiously and so desperately.
A Korean colleague of mine, on social media, predicted that PyeongChang 2018 will prove to be a disaster. I differ.
On the regional level, it provides a boon for the country's most under-invested province, Gangwon. On the national level, Koreans have matured to the point where they no longer invest national angst in national branding.
There is one more question, though. On the diplomatic, political and strategic levels, will PyeongChang 2018 herald a breakthrough in inter-Korean relations?
On that, the jury is out.
Andrew Salmon (andrewcsalmon@yahoo.co.uk) is a Seoul-based reporter and author.
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