A Korean Winter Dream

Two events occurred after I left Korea that I wished I could have witnessed.  First, the 2002 World Cup, though being there in 1996 when Korea the bid with Japan was interesting for Koreans' collective angst at having to settle for co-hosting that extravaganza.  Second, last week much of Korea was buried in 10 inches (25 cm), of snow, a record since the country first gauged statistics in 1937.  In addition to the traffic, I can only imagine the mayhem resulting from those trying to trudge through Myong-dong in platform shoes or delivering noodles or appliances on the back of a motorbike.  Perhaps this was a case of best witnessing the news from the safety of television.  However, what that odd weather pattern does remind us is of Korea's third attempt to host the Winter Olympics, this time in 2018 in PyeongChang.

 

Korea has changed immensely since I first arrived there in 1995.  I paid about US$50 a month just for text-based email; now many consider the country to be the most wired country on Earth.  Skiing and other winter sports in 1990s Korea were more of a decadent hobby for Korea's nouveax riche, who saw winter as another fashion and photo opportunity; Korea currently holds its own in global winter sports competitions.  Finally, Korea was a surging export driven economy that had no regard for anything smacking of sustainability during the nineties; "green" is now the theme has proposed by its current president, Lee Myung-bak, who as Seoul's mayor expanded the city's green space and now insists on Korea becoming a green technology hub.  Korea should be concerned about its energy future:  95 to 97 percent of its energy is imported, so President Lee is encouraging the expansion of everything from home weatherization to expanding its strength in solar and wind energy technologies.

 

Which leads us to the 2018 Winter Olympics.  PyeongChang, east of Seoul in Gangwon Province, came within a whisker of hosting the 2010 and 2014 Games, which it lost Vancouver and Sochi, Russia.  This small town is only competing against Munich and Annecy, France, for the 2018 bid, and has a good shot at finally gaining the right to host the third winter Olympiad in Asia.  The challenges, however, are many:  the highway connecting Seoul to the coast is a traffic nightmare on weekends, and while there are plenty of small airports nearby, the thought of this tiny county, home to 45,000 people, is a chilling one.

 

PyeongChang's organizers, however, are optimistic that they can host a "green" mega-event.  Here are its main points:

 

So there's a lot of room for growth here.  To be fair, this event is 8 years away, and the final winner will not be announced until next year.  Plus geopolitics are often behind who wins and does not win the coveted games.  Nevertheless, the 2018 Olympics will not only be an opportunity for Korea to showcase its heritage and instill even more national pride, but could also be an enormous opportunity to display its advances in and clean technology.

 

If anyone is involved with the 2018 bid in Korea, we want to hear your perspective.