Kim Jin-sun, governor of Gangwon Province, told The Korea Times Friday that the province will adhere to all International Olympic Committee (IOC) regulations in PyeongChang’s bid and promote its clean image.
He said, “we will do our best to let delegates of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) know that PyeongChang, a county 160 kilometres east of Seoul, is a perfect venue to host the 2014 Games, while strictly abiding by IOC ethic rules”.
PyeongChang and the other bid cities are not allowed to launch a full-fledged public campaign before October, reports the newspaper.
Kim and other Korean officials believe the ANOC meeting which starts Sunday in Seoul, would give the country a good opportunity to further improve Korea’s positive international image and move forward in sports diplomacy. About 1,600 sports leaders are expected to attend the meeting, which is one of the biggest events in the international sports community.
He said, “no Asian country, except for Korea, has hosted the ANOC meeting and it is significant that Korea held the meeting twice. His will provide a good chance for sports leaders from around the world to get a positive view of the country”.
After hearing IOC President Jacques Rogge’s remark recently that PyeongChang would likely be one of two finalists for the 2014 Winter Olympic bid, Kim said, “we are upbeat about PyeongChang’s bright prospect to become the host city for the 2014 Games as many prominent sports organizations and experts have expressed similar views. But we will forget about the past, whatever notable results PyeongChang made back in the previous campaign. We will start from scratch and do our best to promote PyeongChang as six other cities are all strong contenders”.
Since 2004 the province has hosted five big international winter sports tournaments and from June 2005 to February 2009 the city will host nine tournaments and international events. It plans to attract nine more tournaments between 2007 and 2011.
Four members from PyeongChang’s bid committee went to the Paralympic Games in Turin to inspect their facilities to help improve its bid and broaden Korea’s athletic base.
An official organization of supporters for PyeongChang 2014 called “Tongsamo” is playing a key role in getting the bid campaign started, reports the newspaper.
