Gunilla Lindberg, chairwoman of the IOC Coordination Commission, tours the construction site of the Ice Arena, the venue for the short track and figure skating competitions for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, on Jan. 15, 2015. (Yonhap)
There has been funding battles going on between the national and provincials governments in Korea in regards to the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. The IOC has now stepped in to recommend that Korea try and share the 2018 Games with Japan to reduce costs. It appears the suggestion of sharing the games with their rival Japan has gotten the attention of Korea:
The 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games chief organizer confirmed Friday “there is no possibility” events will be shared with cities outside of Korea.
“Construction for all the venues for the PyeongChang Games has begun. At this juncture, it is difficult to adopt the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) reform package,” the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) President and CEO Cho Yang-ho said in a statement.
He said he “highly appreciates” the IOC’s initiative for the reforms because it will be very effective for the Olympic Movement down the road, but insists all events in 2018 will be staged in the counties of PyeongChang and Jeongseon, and the city of Gangneung.
The IOC Monday unanimously approved President Thomas Bach’s 40-point “Olympic Agenda 2020” reform package, which includes recommendations allowing cities to stage some events in different countries to cut costs.
The IOC is worried that a new sliding venue under construction in Gangwon Province may have little use after the Games and wants the POCOG to move sliding events to countries that already have venues, such as Japan. But, local governments and interested parties have insisted they have no intention of splitting the host role with other countries. [Korea Times]
So the bottom line is that all the venues that will have no use after the Olympics will be built.
I am sure the Korean government will get this worked out because I see no way that they will not host the 2018 Games. It seems to me this is a national effort and a small province like Gangwon should not be expected to provide so much funding for this international event:
The 2018 PyeongChang Olympics may be in limbo, with the government and Gangwon Province locking horns over who will cover the 11.1-trillion-won cost for the quadrennial event, especially the cost of building the Olympic stadium.
The Gangwon Provincial Council recently threatened that if the government does not provide sufficient financial support for the Olympics, it will “readily give up the right to host the event.”
When asked about its stance over this threat, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said last week it “will not speculate on hypothetical situations,” adding that it believes Korea and PyeongChang will show their commitment by solving the problem.
“Since the candidature phase, a number of options have been looked at for the ceremony’s stadiums and the IOC remains very flexible in discussing any proposals from the PyeongChang 2018 Organizing Committee,” Rachel Rominger, an IOC representative, said in an e-mail reply to The Korea Times.
On Monday, Council members of Gangwon Province and other cities and counties where the various Olympic sporting events will be held visited the National Assembly and urged the government to increase its financial support in order to avoid controversy.
“The event is an international one and will be held on our soil for the first time, but the government focuses only on the economic aspects and refrains from giving due support,” an official at the Gangwon Provincial Assembly said.
Their harsh remarks came shortly after the government’s recent decision regarding the construction of the new Olympic stadium at Hoenggye-ri in PyeongChang County. The government decided to cover only 50 percent of the cost, while Gangwon Province and the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) would shoulder the other 50 percent.
However, the province wants the government to cover 75 percent of the costs. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but if the South Koreans cannot get this work out I know someone who is willing to help.
