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By Yoon Chul
Now Korea has achieved its 12-year dream of bringing the 2018 Winter Games to PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, the next question is who will lead the organizing committee.
“Some friction is to be expected. First of all, we have to decide whether the organizing committee will be based in Gangwon Province or Seoul. And there will be competition among people from the government, Gangwon Province and the bid committee,” said a high-ranking official with the bid committee, requesting anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Under the International Olympic Committee’s rules, an Olympic organizing committee should be established within 5 months after winning the right to hold the Games. But the Korean bid committee pledged in its bid book to found the organizing committee within three months.
“As we promised during the bid, the organizing committee will be realized in three months,” the official said.
The bid committee will wind down before August.
The government will select the president of the PyeongChang Winter Games organizing committee. No doubt, the emphasis will be on that person’s business ability and commitment to the Games.
The official also added that whoever takes charge of the organizing committee, their focus should be on management.
“The Winter Games can’t be considered as just an international sports event. It is huge international business as well as the biggest event for the country,” the official said.
History supports this premise. A total of 21 host cities of the Winter Games have found it a challenge to make a profit from the Winter Olympics. Only a handful of those cities have made money while the others were left with huge debts.
The organizing committee head also should be good at international sport diplomacy and represent Gangwon Province.
A member of the Korea Olympic Committee (KOC) said the most important mission of the organizing committee chief would be securing the budget. Following his explanation of the role, the official’s view was that Park Yong-sung, the current KOC president, would be a good choice.
The organizing committee for the 2002 Asian Summer Games in Busan was headed by then-KOC President Kim Un-yong while the committee for the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon was at first led by then-KOC President Kim Jung-gil.
Cho Yang-ho, president of the Winter Games bid committee, said in a recent interview with a local daily that the bid committee chief usually goes on to lead the organizing committee. Kim Jin-sun, a current special ambassador with the bid committee, is another possible candidate. Kim, a former three-term governor of Gangwon Province, was crucial to the bid, since the first attempt some 12 years ago.
With some seven years to go before the Winter Games, Ha Do-bong, secretary general of the bid committee, said that the organizing committee will initially start out small, comprising of some 100 people and gradually increase to around 800.
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