Korean good cheer knows no borders

PYEONGCHANG, SOUTH KOREA— It wasn’t long after the Air Canada flight containing Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir touched down at South Korea’s largest airport that the Canadian figure skating duo was greeted by a loud and happy throng.

Who were those people waving Canadian flags and cheering with a patriotic fervour that suggested they carried passports bearing the national maple leaf? Most of them were not Canadians. Some were members of the Korean Supporters, a group of Korean volunteers who plan to devote their Olympics to an unusual mission: Cheering for countries other than their own.

“Everyone else in Korea is going to support Korea. We’re trying to focus on other countries,” said Ki Yang Cho, head of communications for the Korean Supporters, speaking through a translator.

Ki said the group, which has about 100,000 registered members, has been bringing about 200 volunteers to Seoul’s Incheon Airport most days this week to happily fete Olympic athletes and tourists as they take their first steps on Korean soil. They’ve created an assembly line of all-nations goodwill; shortly after Virtue and Moir had their moment earlier this week, members of Russia’s men’s hockey team emerged to a similarly boisterous welcome.

Once the Games begin, there are plans to assign squads of about 100 to 120 Korean Supporters to each Olympic event. The Supporters buy their own tickets and are encouraged to cheer in the native tongue of the athletes they’re tasked with supporting.

“We’re cheering in Russian, English, Chinese, Japanese,” said Ki. “We’re going to have chants. We’re going to call out phrases. We’re going to wave flags.”

Possibly even the flag of North Korea — which is normally illegal to display here given the nuclear-standoff-induced tensions between the neighbours. With North Korea having arrived at the Games with a small contingent of athletes — not to mention a 229-strong cheer squad meant to root for athletes from both Koreas — the Korean Supporters do not plan to let old grudges ruin the spirit of their cause.

“We’re not going to treat the North Koreans as special. We’re going to support them like we do other nations,” said Ki.

The organization was founded by businessman Moon Sang Ju in the lead-up to the 2002 World Cup of soccer, co-hosted by South Korea and Japan. Moon’s idea at the time, he said, was to help improve his country’s global image and to promote world peace.

“The entire world is one family, even if we’re from different countries,” said Moon, 72, also speaking through a translator. “It’s just sports. It’s OK to support other countries and other athletes.”

That view hasn’t always been received with universal agreement in Korea, which harbours a sports culture which encourages boisterous and elaborate cheering for the home team, albeit without the violent hooliganism that sometimes mars the endeavour elsewhere. During a World Cup soccer game in 2002 between Korea and Poland in Busan, Korea’s second-most populous city, the Korean Supporters enlisted a squad of about 500 volunteers to cheer for Poland. The story goes that many of the volunteers were swept up in the moment and ended up cheering for their homeland instead. When Korea won, igniting a memorable run to the World Cup semifinal, nationalistic sentiment soared.

“There definitely were times when people actually said we should only cheer for Korea,” said Moon. “When that happened I tried to explain to people our mission. Some of those people became part of this organiza- tion, and now they’re cheering for other nations with us.”

The official tagline of the 2018 Olympics goes: “Passion. Connected.”

For the Korean Supporters, it’s more like: “Passion. Practised.”

The group has its own song and its own dance. It has its own uniform — an eye-catching yellow vest. And Ki acknowledged that it even has its imitators — other groups also plan to cheer for visiting nations at these Olympics, although he said he didn’t know much about them.

The Supporters’ pursuit also comes with its challenges. Ki said it isn’t difficult to find volunteers to cheer for athletes from other countries at popular marquee events like, say, figure skating — where Virtue and Moir, Canada’s flag-bearers at Friday’s opening ceremony, will look to expand an Olympic medal collection that already includes a gold and two silvers. That’s why the Korean Supporters have been focusing their efforts on encouraging members to attend less glamorous events held outdoors — say, cross-country skiing and biathlon.

With temperatures expected to plummet well below freezing during the Games, it’s been a tall order.

“Because of the cold weather it’s very hard to make volunteers go to some of those events. But my plan is to have 100 to 120 volunteers at each event,” said Ki.

Moon, the group’s founder, said the sub-zero temperatures at what’s expected to be one of the coldest Olympics in history only make his group’s noble mission more necessary. In a geopolitical hot spot, the idea is to warm hearts.

“In the cold weather, being cheered is a very good thing. It makes you happy,” said Moon. “There are a lot of people in the world worrying about nuclear war in this Korean Peninsula. So we’re thankful to the athletes and tourists for coming to Korea.

“That’s what motivates us to support Canadians and athletes from all over the world. We’re trying to promote a world where there is no war.”