Pyeongchang needs to wipe off IOC’s concerns

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has made a proposal to Korea to host sledding events (bobsleigh, luge and skeleton) of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in other countries. IOC President Thomas Bach recently said that if "Agenda 2020" is confirmed in the IOC General Assembly that started on Monday, Korea and Japan, host nations for the 2018 Winter and 2020 Summer Olympic Games, can host some events out of the host cities. "Agenda 2020" is a reform proposal pursued by the IOC leader, which focuses on distributed hosting of events in other nations, streamlining of hosting process and flexible adoption of Olympic events. Gunilla Lindberg of Sweden, chair of the IOC oversight commission for Pyeongchang, said on the issue of hosting some events in other countries that list of potential host cities will be delivered next week and the PyeongChang Coordination Commission will make the final decision, which needs to be made until March next year.

Since Pyeongchang was named as a host city after two failed attempts, issue of lacking stadiums has been anticipated. However, in some aspects, insufficient preparation for the games and improper operation of the organizing committee may have provided reasons for the IOC’s proposal to host some events out of Korea. Chicago Tribune reported, “The IOC has become concerned for preparation of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games due to ongoing dispute over finances between the province and the central government.” In fact, there had been friction among Gangwon Province, the PyeongChang Organizing Committee and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism during the preparatory processes.

Recent host nations and cities of Olympic Games have been left with huge debts due to excessive investment. Russia hosted 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games by spending a record-high 5.4 trillion won (approximately 50 billion U.S. dollars), but the expected economic effect was not achieved. Japanese city Nagano with a population of 300,000 also spent excessive cost to build new stadiums for the 1998 Winter Olympics, left with a debt of 11 billion dollars. Whopping 2.29 trillion won was spent to hose Incheon Asiad this year, including the central government expenditure. Incheon city now bears a debt of 13 trillion won.

The PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games require for a budget around 11.8 trillion won including construction cost of 281.4 billion won for eight stadiums. One of the to-be-constructed stadiums is a sliding center to host sledding events that requires for 122.8 billion won in construction budget. After end of the Olympic Games, annual cost for operation and maintenance of these stadiums is expected to be around 10 billion won. In regards to the IOC’s proposal on hosting some events outside Korea, the government and the organizing committee show reluctant response, saying, “Construction has been started for new stadiums. Considering the public sentiment, it would not be easy to host some events in Japan.” However, to prevent hosting Winter Olympic Games from turning out as ‘the Winner’s Curse,’ validity of the government expenditure on facilities that are not likely to be used often after the Olympic Games must be thoroughly reviewed. Also, multifaceted consideration must be given on how to make the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games economically successful.