SOUTH KOREA: OLYMPICS - South Korea's bid chief recommends Pyeongchang for 2018 winter Olympics

Record ID: 329820

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: OLYMPICS - South Korea's bid chief recommends Pyeongchang for 2018 winter Olympics
  • Date: 26th January 2011
  • Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (JANUARY 24, 2011) (REUTERS) (16:9 VIDEO) VIEW OF INTERVIEW WITH YANG HO CHO, CHAIRMAN OF 2018 PYEONGCHANG WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES BID COMMITTEE VARIOUS OF CHO SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (English) YANG HO CHO, CHAIRMAN OF 2018 PYEONGCHANG WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES BID COMMITTEE, SAYING: "And 650 million young people live around Asia, so young people who doesn't have any experience of winter sports. When we have honour to host winter games, people have more attention and interest in winter sports. That's what we're saying there's a new potential and new growth in winter sports in Asia." CHO SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) YANG HO CHO, CHAIRMAN OF 2018 PYEONGCHANG WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES BID COMMITTEE, SAYING: "After we host 1988 Summer Olympics, our economy and social development boost tremendous. And I think it's about times another steps forward. " CHO SPEAKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) YANG HO CHO, CHAIRMAN OF 2018 PYEONGCHANG WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES BID COMMITTEE, SAYING: "And the last 60 years, we had tension between south and north. But we are peacefully and successfully complete Summer Olympic games, FIFA World Cup and recently G20. " VARIOUS OF CHO SITTING
  • Embargoed: 10th February 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Korea, Republic of
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA7PHTA5CE2T686SME0DPTVOQZR
  • Story Text: South Korea's bid chief says Northeast Asia's booming economy and its largely untapped youth market are the cornerstone of South Korea's 2018 bid to host the first Winter Olympics in the region for 20 years.
    Northeast Asia's booming economy and its largely untapped youth market are the cornerstone of South Korea's 2018 bid to host the first Winter Olympics in the region for 20 years, its bid chief said on Monday (January 24).
    Pyeongchang hopes it will be a case of third time lucky when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meets in Durban, South Africa and chooses on July 6 between Germany's Munich, France's Annecy and the South Korean resort.
    The South Koreans just missed out in their last bids to Vancouver (2010) and Sochi (2014) by three and four votes, respectively.
    Bid chairman Cho Yang-ho, who is also chairman and CEO of Korean Air, says his team do not feel they are owed their turn after the past failed bids, or because North America and Europe have shared the past four Games.
    The South Korean "New Horizons" bid is the right choice because it offers the Olympic movement an opportunity to tap into a lucrative market with unbridled potential, at a time when Europe and the United States are gripped by economic woes, he said.
    Cho said Asia is praised for its new growth and potential and sixty percent of the world's population live in Asia and one billion people live within an hour of Seoul by plane.
    "And 650 million young people live around Asia, so young people who doesn't have any experience of winter sports. When we have honour to host winter games, people have more attention and interest in winter sports. That's what we're saying there's a new potential and new growth in winter sports in Asia," he told Reuters in an interview.
    While debt and high unemployment continues to stifle growth in Europe and the United States, the South Korean and Chinese economies have been growing at breakneck speed.
    Asia has only hosted two Winter Games -- at the Japanese resort of Sapporo (1972) and Nagano (1998) -- prompting some critics to call for a rotation system among continents as soccer's governing body FIFA does.
    Cho says he does not want to get into that debate, leaving it to the IOC to decide selection criteria.
    Instead, he focuses on how the Olympic movement served to propel South Korea from a military dictatorship to democracy, and augmented the start of a transformation from a developing economy to one of the world's leading economies.
    "After we host 1988 Summer Olympics, our economy and social development boost tremendous. And I think it's about times another steps forward," he said.
    Cho refused to be drawn on any possible involvement of North Korea if the 2018 bid was successful but stated the venues had all been chosen and were accessible by bus and within 30 minutes of each other.
    The threat of conflict has hung of over the peninsula for decades, with the North and South still technically at war having only signed a truce to end the 1950-53 Korean War.
    Last year tensions rose to their highest level in years with two deadly attacks on the South, but Cho says that the danger-level is exaggerated. Anyway, he says, South Korea has proven it can host major international events without disruption.
    "And the last 60 years, we had tension between south and north. But we are peacefully and successfully complete Summer Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup and recently G20," he said.
    Cho firmly said he has full confidence South Korea can host the Winter Games.
    Next test of this confidence comes when an IOC team inspects the Pyeongchang resort, about 200km east of Seoul, between Feb. 14-20. It will visit Annecy between Feb. 8-13 and Munich between Feb. 27-March 5.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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