SEOUL — PyeongChang 2018 proved a successful and peaceful Winter Olympic Games, promoting regional development and prospects for Korean unification, LEE Hee-beom, President of POCOG, said Wednesday.
Speaking to a group of graduate students at Seoul National University, LEE said, “PyeongChang showed the power of sports.”
The PyeongChang Olympics ran from Feb. 9–25. Some 2920 athletes from 92 national Olympic committees participated in 102 events — all Games records. More: 25 Olympic records and three world records were broken.
In the lead-up the Games, North Korea had launched 11 missiles over the Pacific Ocean. Some countries were expressing concern over attending the 2018 Games, Lee said. Then, though, North and South Korea marched together in the opening ceremony and players from both nations played in a joint women’s ice-hockey team. Later, Lee said, PyeongChang was called the safest Olympic ever in the history.
In all, Lee said, the Games cost $14 billion. Of that, $12 billion went to infrastructure, including a high-speed rail line, expressways, roads and venues. The arena used for the opening and closing ceremony will be demolished, Lee said.
POCOG, which last year was in the red, now anticipates a surplus, he said, with Olympic ticket sales — among other revenue items — at 100.9 percent.
The Games boosted South Korean GDP by 0.2 percent, he said.
Lee said more than seven million students benefitted from PyeongChang education program. He said six countries, including Nigeria and other warm-weather nations, appeared at the Winter Olympics for the very first time. Newly introduced 5G technology made PyeongChang the most high-tech Olympics in the history, he said.
The Games, he said, have gotten good reviews from the likes of Thomas Bach, the IOC president, and Sheikh Ahmad, the ANOC president.
Author: SiGo | Wednesday, May 16, 2018
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