Briefing by Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yu In-chon

Briefing by

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism 

Yu In-chon

1. Korea’s Bid to Host International Sporting Events 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games 2022 FIFA World Cup  2. Revitalization of International Exchanges  and Cooperation in Culture, Tourism and Sports

November 10, 2010

Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

Korea’s Bid to Host International Sporting Events

2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games

Background

The Republic of Korea has been trying to host the Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang with a view to spreading winter sports across Asia. PyeongChang has been selected as one of the candidate cities for 2018 Winter Olympics along with Munich in Germany and Annecy in France. It was also chosen consecutively as a candidate city for the 2010 and 2014 Games.

If PyeongChang’s bid turns out to be successful, it would be the second Olympic Winter Games to be held in Asia in 20 years; the Nagano Games were in 1998. Out of 21 Winter Olympics in history, only two Games were held in Asia. It is expected that the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games would contribute to further spreading the spirit of the Olympic Movement in Asia where winter sports are not commonplace and present a new opportunity for expanding their growth potential.

PyeongChang, a Fully Prepared Venue

PyeongChang is set to emerge as a hub of winter sports in Asia. Every year, some 1.5 million foreign tourists visit PyeongChang to enjoy winter sports, and it is expected to become a magnet for travelers from nearby countries, whose sports population reaches more than 1 billion. About 91 percent of Koreans support the hosting of the Winter Olympics, and the Korean Government has reaffirmed its commitment to carrying out the guarantees it has made to the IOC. Korea’s past track record of having successfully held international and domestic sporting events scores of times, including the 1988 Seoul Olympics, will be conducive to the success of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

PyeongChang is equipped with world-class facilities and infrastructure for the Winter Games. Alpensia Resort, a large-scale Olympic complex, had its grand opening in July 2010 after construction work with a total investment of US$140 million. Of the 13 cutting-edge facilities planned for the competitions, seven of them, including a ski jump tower and the biathlon and cross-country skiing courses, have been completed along with a media village and a hotel to house the IOC head quarters. An efficient Games plan has also been put in place. All competition venues in the Alpensia Cluster and the Coastal Cluster can be reached within 30 minutes from PyeongChang. All venues for the competitions will be accessible within 5 to 10 minutes from the Olympic Villages by expressway, national highway or railroad.

In addition, Korea has made continuous efforts to contribute to the development of winter sports. For instance, the Dream Program, which began in 2004 as part of the pledge made to the IOC, has brought together 806 young people from around 42 countries that do not have snow at any time of the year. Among them, 12 young athletes competed in international sporting events, including the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. This kind of endeavor has gone a long way toward spreading the spirit espoused by the IOC.

Korea’s Bid to Host the 2022 FIFA World Cup

Background

The Republic of Korea has submitted a bid to host the 2022 World Cup aimed at realizing the common benefits of humanity pursued by FIFA and further spreading an enthusiastic passion for football in Asia, which accounts for nearly two thirds of the global population. On May 14, 2010, the Korean Government tendered a Bid Book to FIFA, and subsequently FIFA sent a survey delegation to Korea July 22-25, 2010 to study the competition venues and facilities. If Korea, the host of the G20 Seoul Summit, succeeds in its bid, it will become a beacon of new hope for many underdeveloped countries. 

Benefits of Korea’s Hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup

The principles of coexistence and prosperity of all peoples and the lasting social legacy FIFA is emphasizing is in perfect harmony with Korea’s three legacies.

Korea’s Three Legacies

Legacy of Inspiration: Korea has been an inspiration to other countries by achieving economic advancement and democratization rising above poverty, war and national division. Legacy of Peace: The World Cup in Korea would contribute to promoting peace on the Korean Peninsula, the only remaining country divided by Cold War rivalries, and in Northeast Asia and beyond. Legacy of Passion: The passion of Koreans for football evidenced during the 2002 World Cup, which Korea cohosted, evolved into the FIFA Fan Fest around the world.

Korea has built the best football infrastructure coupled with an advanced IT environment, which attest to the country’s capabilities to host the largest international football event. 

For the 2022 World Cup, 12 candidate cities across the country have already been operating 14 state-of-the-art stadiums. On top of that, Korea’s capabilities to host the event have been objectively acknowledged through its experience and know-how in successfully cohosting the 2002 World Cup and hosting other international sporting events, its rapid and safe transportation networks and the state of reliable public security. 

Korea has shown a strong commitment to the progress of football across the globe through a variety of efforts, including the raising of a global football development fund. If Korea succeeds in its bid to host the 2022 World Cup, it will strive to set up a development fund worth US$77.7 billion from 2011 to 2025 to provide assistance for developing nations that lack a quality football environment and infrastructure.  

Revitalization of International Exchanges and Collaboration in Culture, Sports and Tourism 

Overview 

Korea will enhance efforts to help peoples across the globe better understand Korean culture and engage in cultural exchanges and cooperation in line with principles of cultural relativity and diversity. By assisting developing nations, which are partners in shared progress, to conserve and utilize cultural assets, Korea will help maintain their cultural identity and generate economic value added.

At a time when more than 10 million foreign tourists are expected to visit Korea annually, the domestic tourism industry is making contributions to mutual, sustainable growth by holding the T20 Tourism Ministers’ Meeting and carrying out various projects with the WTO. 

International sports interaction is being vitalized in the course of holding friendly matches, assisting developing nations to participate in global events and expanding agreements for exchanges. 

Current State 

Culture

An increased number of Korean cultural centers, hubs for cultural exchanges, was set up across the globe, thereby establishing networks with numerous countries. In 2009, the number of the centers stood at 12 in nine countries; it soared to 20 in 16 nations in 2010 and will increase to 23 in 19 countries in 2011. 

Current State of Hallyu

In the initial stages, the enthusiasm for Hallyu, the Korean Wave of popular culture, including TV broadcasts, music, films and games, mainly spread to East Asian nations. Recently, the phenomenon has started to be felt in North America, the Middle East and Central Asia. Korean digital game businesses are leading the world, boasting the second largest market share.  The dissemination of the Korean Wave has a significant ripple effect, which in monetary terms amounted to 4.9 trillion won or US$4.3 billion as of 2008. For instance, the export of content has gradually increased from US$1.2 billion in 2005 and US$1.5 billion in 2007 to US$1.9 billion in 2008. On top of this, the number of tourists who visited Korea increased to 7.81 million in 2009 from 5.81 million in 2004. As a result, more and more people have come to have favorable views about Korea.

Korea has made efforts to bolster international cooperation through official development assistance projects in culture. As part of such efforts, Korea has run invitational training programs for those involved in the cultural sector in developing nations. From 2005 to 2009, with a budget of 10 billion won or US$8.9 million, it invited a total of 500 people from 37 countries in Asia, South America and Africa. In 2010, with a budget of 1.5 billion won or US$1.3 million, it invited a total of 74 people from 35 nations. 

Under the project dubbed “Thank You, Small Library,” Korea has assisted developing nations to set up libraries. From 2007 to 2010, a total of 17 libraries was founded in Ghana and Mozambique. In 2011, Korea plans to build ten additional libraries on the African continent.

Korea has provided Funds-in-Trust to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It donated US$300,000 to UNESCO in 2007 and US$250,000 in 2009. Every year since 2006, Korea has provided WIPO with about US$214,000.

From 2007 to 2009, Korea provided Vietnam and Mongolia with about 300 million won or about US$268,000 for the management and preservation of cultural assets and historic sites. It also carried out joint academic research projects. 

The 2^nd UNESCO World Conference on Arts Education

The Conference was held in the Convention and Exhibition Complex (COEX) in Seoul May 25-28 this year. The number of participants from 107 countries reached about 3,000, including the UNESCO Director-General, minister and vice minister-level officials from 17 nations and professionals in the arts and culture.  The main outcome of the Conference was the adoption of the Seoul Agenda: Goals for the Development of Arts Education. Among other things, the goals were mainly to “ensure that arts education is accessible as a fundamental and sustainable component of a high quality renewal of education,…assure that arts education activities and programmes are of a high quality in conception and delivery” and “apply arts education principles and practices to contribute to resolving the social and cultural challenges facing today’s world.”  As part of follow-up measures to the Seoul Conference, the UNESCO Executive Board adopted the recommendations for the implementation of the Agenda of the Conference and decided to declare the last week of May every year to be an arts education week. The designation will be officially announced following its adoption at the UNESCO General Conference in October 2011.

Tourism and Sports

Two-way international tourism has expanded considerably. During 2010, international tourists visiting Korea are estimated to reach 8.5 million and the number of Koreans heading overseas 12 million. This contrasts with the 2009 figures when inbound tourists reached 7.81 million and outbound tourists 9.5 million.

To celebrate the G20 Seoul Summit, the T20 Tourism Ministers’ Meeting was held in Buyeo, Chungcheongnam-do (South Chungcheong Province) October 11-13, 2010. The participants agreed that tourism policies should contribute substantially to sustained shared growth. They pledged to encourage both developing and industrialized countries to help each other so that both can benefit on an equitable basis.

The Ministers’ Meeting adopted the T20 Buyeo Declaration and referred it to the President of the Republic of Korea, the chair of the 2010 G20 Seoul Summit. France, the chair of the next G20 Summit, was designated as the host of the next T20 Ministers’ Meeting.

Gist of the T20 Buyeo Declaration

Member countries will strive so that tourism will help contribute to overcoming the global economic crisis and to sustained and balanced growth throughout the world. They took note of the fact that tourism yields 5 percent of the GDP and 6-7 percent of jobs worldwide. Tourism accounts for 30 percent of the countries’ service exports totaling US$1 trillion annually. Member countries will contribute to further promoting tourism traffic, creation of new jobs and green growth. The members will do their best to mitigate the gaps in tourism through fair tourism and transfer of technologies. Fair tourism or responsible tourism denotes among other things that countries will refrain from developing tourism resources aimed at attracting travelers from industrialized countries in a lopsided fashion. It also provides that tourism will not result in undue damage to the residents of the tourist sites. It was also decided that Korea would host the 19th UNWTO General Assembly. Members affirmed their need to establish a strong, cooperative relationship with international organizations, including the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Trade Center (ITC).

Since 2008, the Korean Government and other international organizations have been building a special partnership with the UNWTO to carry out Sustainable Tourism—Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) Projects in 14 developing countries.

Some Details of the ST-EP Projects

(In thousand US dollars)

Year	Budget	Target Countries	Project Contents
2008	US$715	Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Honduras, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Albania, Cambodia and Nepal.	In Bolivia and Peru, projects focused on strengthening community-based tourism. In Nicaragua, bigger tourist businesses were matched with smaller ones for mutual collaboration. In Ecuador, attention was given to comprehensive development of resources, including nurturing community-based tourism in rural areas.
2009	US$697
2010	US$625

Note: Korean support for the projects is for 2008-2010

Further instances of Korea’s international cooperation include the conclusion of an MOU with Ghana in October 2010 for the installation of tourist guide information signs. Some 35 such signs were put up in 10 Ghanaian districts using a budget of US$330,000 offered by the Korean Government. 

Cooperative projects by the Korean Government are often conducted in tandem with the WTO and the OECD Tourism Committee. Through these programs, the country invites 25 mid-level government officials from 20 Asia-Pacific countries every year. It occasionally invites trainees from ASEAN members for tour guide education.

The Korean Government has been proactive in concluding tourism agreements. Up to November 2010, the Republic had signed tourism MOUs with 28 countries. As of the date, it is negotiating bilateral arrangements with 8 other countries.

The Korean Government is placing priority on promoting low-carbon, green tourism as part of fulfilling its climate change obligations. Its goal is set at a 30 percent reduction of the country’s expected green house gas emission by the year 2020. The Korean Government enacted the Framework Act on Low-Carbon, Green Growth in January 2010, making the country the first in the world to do so.

Government policy stipulates the intensive control of carbon emissions at large tourist sites and amusement parks as a means of fostering eco-tourism. The objective is to preserve the environment and create more jobs. For instance, the Suncheon Bay special ecotourism project attracted 2.3 million visitors during 2009, adding 6,400 new jobs.

Korea has expanded international sports exchanges and supported athletic training for those coming from developing countries. The number of Korea-sponsored games was 29 in 2008, 30 in 2009, and 30 in 2010. Meanwhile, instances of athletic exchange projects increased from 12 in 2008, to 13 in 2009, and 14 in 2010. Instances of training athletes from developing countries ranged from 33 in 2008, to 43 in 2009, and to 39 in 2010.

The Korean Government designated taekwondo as a core sports for training in developing countries. The program provides taekwondo supplies, training in Korea and training by Korean masters in specified countries as well as dispatches demonstration teams. The Government has appropriated 2.98 billion won or US$2.6 million to be used in 95 countries for that purpose from 2008 through 2010.

The Korean Government’s Vision for the Future 

The Korean Government will continue to expand its international cooperation programs in the area of culture, sports and tourism. Its contribution will be bolstered so that it would be worthy of a country that sits on the Development Assistance Committee of the OECD as one of a dozen leading economies of the world. What is so unique about the role of Korea is that it is perfectly qualified to serve as a bridge linking developing and developed countries. The Korean Government is ready and willing to lead international efforts to boost the potential for green growth worldwide in all areas of common interests, including tourism and other culture industries.