Intl. press conference regarding the environmentally and financially disastrous 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics
○ The IOC opened up a new Olympic paradigm with its “Olympic Agenda 2020”last December that practically discarded the ‘1 host country 1 host city’ principle. Even the IOC couldn’t ignore the chronic problem of the hosting of the Olympic Games being environmentally and financially unsustainable. In this respect, the Organizing Committees of 2010 Tokyo and 2022 Almati Olympics have decided to split the Games.
○ Most of the hard infrastructure that are built for international mega-sports events such as the Olympics become useless after the show. For instance, one of the stadiums that were built for the 2014 Brazil World Cup and cost 600 billion has turned into a parking lot after the games, foreign press say. The hosting cities of the 2014 Sochi and the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics are also being plagued by the problems of debt and damaged environment.
○ In case of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Korean government and the hosting Gangwon provincial government are pushing forward with constructing new sports complexes in the area by force although it is very positively expected by many that the 2018 Pyeongchang would become just another case of environmental and financial disaster looming ahead. Nobody knows why they had to completely ignore the urgent recommendations that have been repeatedly raised by Korean civil society members and circles of experts that the Games should be split.
○ The POCOG and the South Korean government partially lifted the‘Protected Area’designation in Mount Gariwang to enable ski slope construction. They plan to pour 178.2 billion won into the construction and after a three-day Alpine Ski competition, 108.2 billion won into tearing down the slope and ‘restore’ the area. This ‘area’ is part of the 500-year-old virgin forests in Mount Gariwang, an ecological and cultural treasure for the entire nation, which is‘unrestorable’ since the forests are so delicately interconnected and belong mostly to a ‘wind-hole’ zone. If the governments decide to split the Games and use the existing slopes, the damage both to the nature and to the budget can be minimized.
○ In this regard, the 'Citizens to Split the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics(CSPO)' comprised of various local and national, sports and environment-related civil society organizations and experts is hosting a press conference to thoroughly explicate major problems lying in hosting of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and the Korean civil society’s recommendation concerning them. The CSPO particularly invites Korea-based foreign correspondents and press workers for a wider diffusion of the issue. We’d like your interest and participation very much.
<The problems of environmental and financial damages involved in the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and the alternatives>
○Content:
– The IOC’s “Olympic Agenda 2020” and the organizing process of the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics
– Negative effects involved in hosting mega-sports events in Korea and the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics
– The problem of environmental destruction involved in constructing a new ski slope in Mount Gariwang
– The problem of unproportional budget spending for the 2018 Peyongchang Olympics
– The problem of irresponsible government and POCOG
150528_ The problems of 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and the alternative
28 May 2015
Citizens for Sharing of the 2018 Pyeongchang
Contact ) Ms. Bae, Boram. the 'Citizens for Sharing of the 2018 Pyeongchang', rouede28@greenkorea.org
