Leadership / 09.20.18

South Korea's Olympics Venue Sits Unused

Access Staff

Original article published on Associated Press (09/20/18)

Venues for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, which ended in February, are standing empty and unused amid disagreements over who should pay for their maintenance. "The history of past host cities isn't promising," laments Sangho Yoon at Seoul's Korea Economic Research Institute. "Very few of them experienced a meaningful tourism bump after the Olympics." South Korea spent approximately $13 billion on preparing for and staging the Winter Olympics, with $110 million invested in the temporary Pyeongchang Olympic stadium alone. The International Olympic Committee has blamed Korean organizers for the idle venues, saying they repeatedly ignored its warnings. South Korea's central government has agreed to a study by the Korea Development Institute before deciding what actions to take about the venues, while Gangwon Governor Choi Moon-soon has suggested using the facilities for co-hosting the 2021 Asian Winter Games with North Korea. "If Gangwon insists on keeping the venues, it's much better to build plans around the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, presenting the region as a training ground for Olympic athletes before they head into China," Yoon notes. "You know that the Olympics will be held in Beijing, but you don't know what will happen with North Korea."

Read the full story on the Associated Press website.

Tags: Sports , Olympics , News , Stadium , Venues