WEEKENDER
With 140 days left before the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, the organizing committee and related entities are taking all-encompassing steps to promote Korea’s first-ever Winter Games.
With 140 days left before the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, the organizing committee and related entities are taking all-encompassing steps to promote Korea’s first-ever Winter Games.
Working as honorary ambassador of the PyeongChang Olympics, President Moon Jae-in is at the front line in maximizing awareness of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Moon, who visited New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, attended a ceremony held at the Metropolitan Museum, Wednesday, where medals for the PyeongChang Olympics were unveiled.
At the event, Moon assured everyone there the Winter Games, which run from Feb. 9 to 25 next year, will be a hit.
“Tensions are high now, but that is only reason why we need peace,” Moon said, inviting the world including North Korea to the PyeongChang Olympics. “If the South and the North can join together at a time like this, it will be a great opportunity to send a message of reconciliation and peace to the world.”
Amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, Moon said the current situation on the peninsula will not affect next year’s Winter Olympics.
“We are well aware of the concerns the IOC and the whole world have regarding the Korean Peninsula,” Moon was quoted as saying to International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach at their New York meeting on Monday. “A successful hosting of the PyeongChang Games would erase worries over security and show the world the regional peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula.”
The PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) is trying to raise domestic awareness of the Winter Games in various ways.
POCOG said it is enjoying the soaring popularity of a commemorative 2,000 won ($1.76) banknote for the PyeongChang Olympics.
It began receiving online pre-orders of the banknote starting Sept. 11, and suppliers of the special paper money said the bill has sold out.
The notes are scheduled to be issued in December. The Bank of Korea will issue 2.3 million notes for a retail price of 8,000 won each.
Making PyeongChang ‘Culture Olympics’
Gangwon Province, where the host city PyeongChang and other venues of the Winter Olympics are located, is also upping the promotional effort to fill the PyeongChang Olympics with cultural events.
Gangwon Province Governor Choi Moon-soon announced the province will run various kinds of cultural events as part of their boom-up support. To raise awareness of the Olympics, there will be major cultural events.
Coinciding with the 100-days-to go mark, the K-Pop All Star Dream Concert will be held on Nov. 14 at the PyeongChang Olympic Stadium, where the opening and closing ceremonies will be staged.
During the Olympic period, next year, about 30 cultural programs including the Gangwon International Biennale will take place in PyeongChang and other host cities.
Outside Gangwon Province, outdoor musical performances will be held at five major palaces in Seoul as 32 acts will perform around 70 concerts.
To enhance mutual understanding between overseas countries and Koreans, “World Culture Collage” programs will also take place in 17 cities of the country in October and November, inviting foreign diplomatic missions here.
Star athletes promote PyeongChang
Star athletes are also promoting the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
Torchbearers for the Olympic torch relay include Korea’s football legend Cha Bum-keun, Rio Olympics fencing champion Park Sang-young and retired marathoner Lee Bong-ju.
The Olympic torch will be first lit in Olympia, Greece, on Oct. 24, and will be handed over to a PyeongChang delegation in Athens on Oct. 31. The delegation members include former Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yuna. The torch will arrive in Korea on Nov. 1 and begin a 2,018-kilometer-long tour through 18 cities and counties in Gangwon Province and 17 other cities in the country.
The torchbearers will also include singers Sean and Jeong Jin-woon and photographer Cho Sei-hon.