[INTERVIEW] Gangwon ready to impress at Winter Youth Olympics

The coastal city of Gangneung, which once played host to the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, is ready to welcome youth athletes from around the world for the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympics, set to run from Jan. 19 through Feb. 1.

Co-chairperson of the Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics Organizing Committee Choi Jong-ku sits for an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily at Gangneung-Wonju National University in Gangneung, Gangwon on Wednesday. [PARK SANG-MOON]

GANGNEUNG, Gangwon — The coastal city of Gangneung, which once played host to the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, is ready to welcome youth athletes from around the world for the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympics, set to run from Jan. 19 through Feb. 1.

Choi Jong-ku, co-chairperson of the Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics Organizing Committee, is keen to show the world that meticulous preparations by the organizing committee and all those involved will make for a successful tournament.

The Winter Youth Olympics is one of the biggest international events to take place in Korea after the World Scout Jamboree, held in Saemangeum in Buan County, North Jeolla, last summer. It was criticized by the public for gross mismanagement, as the grounds lacked shade, making it unsuitable for camping, while event facilities were unsanitary.

“I am aware that there are many worries [related to the Jamboree],” Choi said during an interview with JoongAng S CEO Cheong Chul-gun at Gangneung-Wonju National University in Gangneung on Wednesday. “We are staying alert as we know that [the Youth Olympics] shouldn’t be like that. And, certainly, it won’t be like that."

This year’s Winter Youth Olympics, set to take place in four regions of Gangwon — the city of Gangneung, Pyeongchang County, Jeongseon County and Hoengseong County — will use most of the facilities in use during the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Choi also discussed what preparations the organizing committee has made and what he hopes the Winter Youth Olympics brings to athletes in the interview.

The following are excerpts from that interview, which have been edited for length and clarity.

Q. Could you tell us about your efforts to prepare for the Winter Youth Olympics since being inaugurated as organizing committee chairperson in November last year? A. First of all, I mainly looked into the preparations that had been going on and the aspects that I could complement by getting involved. I first looked at venues in Gangneung, Pyeongchang, Jeongseon and Hoengseong and checked the facility readiness of those venues. Including this place [Gangneung-Wonju National University in Gangneung], I visited the athlete’s village and accommodations, as well as two other places in Jeongseon.

Alpensia Sliding Centre in Pyeongchang, Gangwon [PAIK JI-HWAN]

Obviously, some people look at the [World Scout] Jamboree and get very worried about the [Winter Youth Olympics]. But the preparations for this competition have been going well with the active work by the organizing committee, as well as the government and local municipalities.

The Youth Olympics are not as well-known as the senior Olympics. What have you done to promote and raise people’s interest in the Youth Games, and what other initiatives are you planning?

It is easiest to promote a tournament when the event itself is interesting. It is much easier to promote the tournament if it is a well-known tournament that has many famous athletes. But, like you said, that is not the case with this competition. We are well aware that promoting is not easy.

Yet within the limits of possibility, we still promoted the event on social media. It is also being promoted through electric display boards owned by the government in Seoul and other regions, as well as through display boards owned by private parties.

Also, [my fellow] co-chairpersons Jin Jong-oh and Lee Sang-hwa are well-known figures, and promotion is also feasible through their efforts. As the tournament is imminent, we lately have also been promoting through media using a limited spending budget.

You served as head of the Financial Services Commission. How do you think your experience and competence applied in terms of preparing for this tournament? I honestly don’t think that I have hugely contributed since joining. The organizing committee was created a long time ago and has consistently done its work under the leadership of the secretary-general.

And the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, as well as the government, host region Gangwon and heads of municipalities were interested in the tournament and put in the work to make it a success. Since that was the case, I did not do anything new or special, but as I said earlier, I looked into what still needed to be done.

When I took the role of chairperson of the organizing committee, the financial situation was very tight. We couldn’t really afford to do a lot, but donations from financial and economic organizations have helped a lot in finishing the [preparations].

There were a lot of unexpected costs. For example, at snow fields, we had to make lounges. We connected multiple conventional tents, trimmed the snow on the ground and installed non-woven fabric. But when it snowed or rained, it flowed down to the parts that are connected, and [the fabric] melted when we provided heating. We thought that was a problem, but we were able to make decisive improvements thanks to the organizations that made donations. [Improving the tents] cost hundreds of millions of won (hundreds of thousands of dollars).

The budget expansion at the end helped a lot.

The Youth Olympics is not a mere competition, but it is a meaningful event in the fact that teenagers learn to cooperate and grow. In that regard, what initiatives are the organizing committee preparing to make that distinction from the senior Olympics?

Jang Mi skates in the women's 1500-meter speed skating event at the first winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria on Jan. 16, 2012. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

As you said, the senior Olympics is a fierce competition for medals. The Youth Olympics is also a tournament, so the bottom line is to all grow well and win medals.

But a more important thing is to learn the Olympic values of harmony and peace, interact with each other and treat this tournament as an opportunity to grow as a great senior athlete. We are also focusing on that aspect, and we try to teach athletes that. Each country already emphasizes that point when selecting its youth athletes.

We’ve also organized many K-culture events through which teams from different countries can interact with and experience our culture. Those cultural events are scheduled in almost every vicinity where the Olympic games will take place.

Additionally, the teenagers should receive a good image of Korea. Can you tell us in detail about how you are preparing for that?

There shouldn’t be any trouble in safety or sanitation, but we are still paying as much attention as possible to those aspects, as the tournament is imminent.

We conduct excessive safety inspections in multiple places. Our safety director, for instance, spends weeks undergoing safety inspections. And, as I said, we are working to make this tournament something more than a sporting event by organizing various events that introduce our culture.

With the Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics, Korea will become the first-ever Asian country to host the Winter Games. Gangwon also became a special self-governing province last year. What impact do you think the Winter Youth Olympics will have on Korea?

Our country as a whole will certainly be impacted if we are able to smoothly operate such a big international event. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) became aware by looking at multiple past events that Korea does well with these kinds of events, and many spectators attend these events in Korea.

It is also the reason why the IOC was happy about our bid [to host the Winter Youth Olympics]. The IOC already has that perception, but this is a chance to specifically prove to them what they think is true.

Also in the past, when Korea held this kind of tournament, those watching cheered not just for Korean athletes but those from other countries that were good, which a lot of times formed unity. This is the Youth Olympics, but I hope it will create that as well.

As for Gangwon, like you said, it hosted the [senior] Winter Olympics and will host the Youth Winter Olympics. I think this will allow Gangwon to rise as a hub of winter sports in Asia.

Beijing hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics, but eventually, there will be a perception that Japan, Korea [and China] are the three main countries in the Winter Olympics.

As far as the effects that the [Winter Youth Olympics] will bring to Gangwon, many tourists will visit the province as it will be introduced internationally. There will certainly be effects that accelerate regional development.

I heard that the number of spectators you are aiming for is 250,000, and you’ve almost reached it. I worried the most about the spectator attendance number, so we aimed the number of spectators slightly lower than the maximum capacity. We can accommodate 360,000, but we decided to aim for 250,000 as we thought reaching the full capacity was hard. As of now, over 280,000 [Spokesperson Kim Jae-hwan corrected him and said the number is over 300,000 as of Wednesday.] have booked tickets. More bookings are made as we enter the final period [before the Youth Olympics].

The graph just goes up steeply. It is very pleasing and encouraging for us, but all the games apart from the opening ceremony are free of charge, so there will be a lot of people who make bookings and do not show up. We are considering going for 350,000 for that reason, although we surpassed 300,000. And I think good reports about the [tournament] and good results from the event being known to the public will induce more people to get interested in it and come see it.

A total of 79 countries are competing in the tournament. You're from Gangwon. How would you want young people from around the world to remember it? Athletes will come and experience what we have to offer here. The most important thing is what kind of experience we have them go through. We should ensure that they have no problem playing their games here and are satisfied with the food and accommodations. Above all, making them feel like they played good games at good places is the most important.

Also, if many spectators attend the event and enjoy it, it will make the athletes feel like they are welcome here.

At the same time, I also want them to feel the charm of those host regions of Gangwon and the province, although it is very limited. Since they will grow up to be world-famous sports stars, giving them a good impression is a good thing in the long term.

Finally, do you have any message you want to convey to people in Korea and those watching worldwide?

The Youth Olympics do not get as much attention as the senior Olympics. But as I said earlier, famous adult athletes go through this period. In fact, many medalists from the Beijing [Winter] Olympics had medaled at the Youth Olympics. I hope you watch these young athletes’ games and show interest. I believe cheering for them will allow them to show a better performance.

Snowboarder Lee Chae-un competes during the final of the Men's Halfpipe at FIS Snowboard World Cup in Zhangjiakou, China on Dec. 8, 2023. Lee will participate at the upcoming Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympics set to begin on Jan. 19 in Gangwon. [XINHUA/YONHAP]

Promoted by the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympics Organizing Committee.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]