USA TODAY International Edition
Gangneung ready for large crowds
GANGNEUNG, South Korea – This quiet coastal city accustomed to hosting South Korean tourists at its beaches and pine forests is now gearing up for something it’s never seen before — hordes of foreign visitors attending the Winter Olympics.
Gangneung has been preparing for the Games as the site for ice sports since nearby Pyeongchang won the bid in 2011. To accommodate the hundreds of thousands expected for the Games, which officially open Friday, the city upgraded highways, added a high-speed train station and spruced up restaurants and hotels.
“We’ve been waiting so long for this event, but I’m a bit worried,” said Jung Jae Eun, 35, who runs a café. “I’ve been hearing so much about low ticket sales. Also, Gangneung is still a small town, and the traffic with all the people coming might be a problem.”
According to the Pyeongchang Organizing Committee, the Games are not a sellout: 74% of nearly 1.1 million tickets had been sold through Monday, though organizers are counting on last-minute ticket sales.
Jung’s café has prepared menus in English for the influx of foreigners, but many other restaurants in Gangneung have undergone elaborate renovations, with the city offering to cover 70% of the cost. The mayor’s office said 230 restaurants took advantage of the deal.
Park Sang Hoon owns a restaurant serving samgyetang, a popular Korean dish of chicken soup with ginseng. He said he spent about $14,000 for renovations that include a new sign, an automatic sliding door for better disability access and tables and chairs to replace the traditional floor seating.
“We know foreigners don’t like sitting on the floor,” he said.
“The Olympics will be felt in Gangneung for the next 100 years,” Park added. “Gangneung would not have had a KTX (high-speed rail) station without the Olympics. With the new highways as well, it’s a steppingstone for development.”
The new train service connects Gangneung to downtown Seoul in 1 hour and 45 minutes (instead of three hours by bus) and links directly with Incheon Airport in about two hours. High-speed rail service started in late December, and Park said he’s already seen an increase in people from Seoul making day trips.
Neighboring North Korea and its provocative nuclear and missile tests have been hot topics in town since the communist nation will compete in the Olympics this year in ice hockey, skiing and skating, plus perform a concert.
Many in Gangneung vividly remember a notorious 1996 incident that was one of the deadliest post-war encounters between the two Koreas. A North Korean submarine on a spy mission malfunctioned off the coast near Gangneung, and its 25 crewmembers scrambled onto land.
A 49-day manhunt ensued, ending with 24 of the North Koreans killed, along with 18 South Koreans, including four civilians. The recovered submarine is on display at a tourist park near Gangneung.
“We heard about (North Korean) soldiers hiding in the cornfields,” recalled Bae Yeon Ja, 62, who vividly recalls the incident. “All the shops closed at 8 p.m. every day. There was a curfew. All the residents here were frightened.”
She remains suspicious about North Korea, whose border is 50 miles away.
“I’m not sure what’s really on their mind,” said Bae, who cooks in a restaurant. “Why are they coming all of a sudden? I can’t feel so friendly toward them.”
Taxi driver Kim Nak Jun, however, hopes the Games will be a new opportunity for a dialogue with the North. “I think it’s a good attempt,” he said. “It could lead to more conversation between the two countries.”
Kim said his taxi company helped prepare its drivers for the Games with workshops on customer service, while the city provided free English lessons to 1,200 drivers. Gangneung also offered hotels money and training to upgrade their service and facilities.
Hotel and motel operators were criticized for price-gouging, but Mayor Choi Myeong Hee said “more accommodations are lowering their rates” as the Games get closer.
The mayor stressed that Gangneung is ready to move past its dark history with North Korea and step onto the biggest stage in its history.
“Visitors will feel the effort and passion of the Gangneung citizens who have worked hard for the Olympics for the past seven years,” he said. “We hope this Olympics will work as a steppingstone for Gangneung to become an internationally loved tourist city.”