Bahng Jae-heung, secretary general of the PyeongChang 2014 Winter Games bid committee, said Monday he was unconcerned about the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) President Jacque Rogge’s visit to Sochi 2014 last week.
The Korea Times reports he said, “the IOC president was there at the invitation of the Russian Olympic Committee for its anniversary ceremony, and it’s customary that he meets with the president of a country he is visiting. There is no more significance in it”.
As for North Korea’s nuclear test last week, the official acknowledged the potential for it negatively affecting PyeongChang’s bid, but added that Korea has proved it can host the Olympics under adverse conditions.
He said, “it is the United Nations and relevant countries, not us, that will resolve the problem and I hope it will be settled soon in a peaceful manner. But, I want to say the security here is not as bad as it looks to the outside. We will do what we can do now and that’s keep focusing our bidding efforts”.
On October 27 PyeongChang will have a groundbreaking ceremony for the Alpensia Resort, venue for the Olympic stadium and ski jumping, should PyeongChang host the 2014 Winter Games.
