By Kim Un-yong - Olympic World Library

By Kim Un-yong

THE GREATEST OLYMPICSFrom Baden-Baden to Seoul

By Kim Un-yong

THE GREATEST OLYMPICS From Baden-Baden to Seoul

Copyright © by Kim Un-yong

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author.

ISBN: 0-87296-034-X

Printed in the Republic of Korea

First printing, YBM Sisayoungosa 1990Second printing, YBM Sisayoungosa 1994Third printing, Doosan Publishing 1999 Fourth printing, Yonsei University Press 2006Ebook edition, Seoul Selection 2020

By Kim Un-yong

THE GREATEST OLYMPICS

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I gave a presentation on taekwondo at the IOC General Session. It was at this meeting that taekwondo was adopted unanimously as an official event at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. (1994)

A ceremony for the sending of invitations to the 1988 Seoul Olympics is held in Lausanne, home of the IOC headquarters (1987)

IOC Secretariat, headquarters hotel of the Seoul Olympics (1988)

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I took the IOC oath after being appointed as a member (1986)


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TV rights signing with OTI (Organización de Televisión Iberoamericana) for the Seoul Olympics (1988)

TV rights signing ceremony (1988)

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At my suggestion, Juan Antonio Samaranch (centre) meets with the leaders of three political parties during a visit to Seoul ahead of the Olympics: Kim Dae-jung (second from right),

Kim Jong-pil (third from right), Kim Young-sam (third from left), and Yoon Giel-joong (second from left). SLOOC president Park Seh-jik is on the far left (1988)

With President Samaranch at the Seoul Olympics (1988)


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Meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda (1988)

Meeting with Princess Anne, an IOC member for the United Kingdom (1987)

Meeting with Manfred Ewald, East German NOC president, during the Seoul Olympics (1988)

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With President Samaranch (1991) Awarding a Paralympic medal (1988)

At the Main Stadium (1988)


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At a general meeting of the International Shooting Sport Federation in Bern, I successfully bid to have Seoul host the

1978 World Shooting Championships (1974)

Muhammed Ali visited Kukkiwon (1976)

With IOC President Lord Killanin at the Montreal Olympics (1976)

Practicing taekwondo with employees at Kukkiwon (1987)

Unveiling ceremony for a monument marking the 10th anniversary of the 1988 Seoul Olympics (1998)

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With President and Mme Samaranch

With my family

With my wife


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TV rights signing for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, NHK Tokyo (1991)

Signing ceremony of the TV contract with Japan (1988)

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At Moscow’s Red Square with Soviet IOC member Vitaly Smirnov (1988)

Meeting with Deputy Sports Minister Gavrilin and other members of a Soviet National Olympic Committee

delegation visiting Seoul (1988)

With the group Koreana, who sang the theme song for the Seoul Olympics (1988)


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With Prince Rainier III of Monaco (1989)

Sharing a warm handshake during a courtesy visit from Nelson Mandela during the South African President’s visit to the IOC (1997)

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Being introduced to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip during the 97th IOC Session (1993)

Greeting Japanese Emperor Hirohito and his wife while attending the Nagano Winter Olympics (1998)


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Delivering an appreciation plaque to King Juan Carlos I of Spain as president of the World Taekwondo Federation (2003)

34th GAISF General Assembly in Monaco (2000)

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IOC Executive Board members (1894 and 1994)


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Foreword by IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch

As President of the International Olympic Committee, it is a very special privilege and pleasure for me to write the foreword of this book. The story of the Games of the XXIV Olympiad in Seoul coincides in fact in a most astonishing manner with my first mandate as President of the IOC. It is therefore not surprising that I take a special interest in these Games, the best Games ever in our Olympic history.

When the 84th IOC Session in Baden-Baden awarded the Games to the City of Seoul in 1981, many political observers and international specialists throughout the world raised their eyebrows in concern and expressed doubts regarding the decision taken. Soon enough, many problems arose, only to be amplified by the international media as a means of questioning the wisdom and prudence of the IOC. We knew better, however, and remained forever faithful to our decision in spite of all odds.

On the long road from October 1981 to September 1988, the IOC was lucky enough to be able to count on some very exceptional men – first and foremost the current President of the Republic of Korea, Mr Roh Tae-woo, who was for a time president of the Organising Committee and the real inspiration behind the Games. It would be impossible to name all the other key figures of these Games, but I must mention here the extraordinary work achieved by the IOC member in the Republic of Korea, Dr Kim Un-yong, whose calm and diplomacy was greatly appreciated and respected by us all. President of GAISF and vice-president of the Organising Committee in addition to being a member of the Executive Board of the IOC, Dr Kim was the perfect mediator for all parties concerned. A very apt negotiator with a broad knowledge of the sporting world, he very quickly became the most efficient channel of communication with the Organising Committee.

Dr Kim Un-yong is thus in an extremely privileged position to be able to tell the real story of these Games, both from a Korean as well as an

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international point of view. There is indeed a great deal to be told regarding the Games, which have a unique history within our Olympic Movement, having been organised in a divided country that is still considered to be a developing one, and one subject to many fears and threats due to the international situation.

Apart from being a tremendous success for the entire Olympic family, one could perhaps even say that the Olympic Games in Seoul were a major factor behind the rapid democratisation of the Republic of Korea and the development of an element of international goodwill, cooperation and fraternity – a new hope for peace.

Juan Antonio SAMARANCH


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Prologue by Kim Un-yong

The Games of the 24th Olympiad in Seoul closed on 2 October 1988 after 16 days of celebration as the greatest festival of mankind ever to be held during a time of peace.

Participating were 13,304 officials and athletes from 160 countries, 15,740 press and television people, 10,188 conference delegates and officials, 140,000 performers for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and 23,000 volunteers.

When Seoul was awarded the 24th Olympic Games in Baden-Baden, West Germany, on 30 September 1981, both Seoul and the rest of the world reacted with surprise.

Some were concerned about Seoul’s organising capabilities. Some worried about boycotts and terrorist threats. Others called for a change of sites.

But in seven years’ time the entire population of Korea, with the support of the Olympic family, successfully opened and closed the Games, thus bringing together the youths of the world for a gala sports festival. The Seoul Games not only were the greatest in Olympic history but also achieved a major goal of the Olympic Charter by contributing to international understanding and world peace.

In addition, the Seoul Olympics represented a turning point for the Korean people. The competition provided Korea with ample opportunity to show off before the entire world. It engendered pride and unity among the Korean people. That unity and pride served as a prime motivation for Korea to accomplish much in the fields of politics, economics, culture, sociology, science, academics, sports, diplomacy, tourism and medical science.

Korea is poised to use its achievements during the 1988 Olympic Games as a springboard to greater and better accomplishments.

In the words of IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch:

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Sports represent a great social force and movement nowadays, and the Olympic Movement is a great social movement which other organisations can only rarely achieve. Korea, the International Olympic Committee and Olympic Family realised their goals together in 1988.

This book is a tribute to all those who helped the great festival of mankind in peace time, the Games of the 24th Olympiad in Seoul: IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch and the IOC, IFs, NOCs, SLOOC staff, volunteers, mass media and particularly family members who shared their understanding and supported me and my work.

Kim Un-yong, late autumn 1990


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CONTENTS

Foreword by IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch 18

Prologue by Kim Un-yong 20

Chapter 1 The IOC and the Olympic Movement 26

The IOC and the Olympic Movement

The Composition and Role of the IOC

My Relationship with the IOC and Samaranch

Chapter 2 Autumn in Baden-Baden 38

The Dream of Hosting the Olympics

All-Out Bidding Warfare

Competing with Nagoya

A Poignant ‘Séoul - Corée’

Chapter 3 International Relations – Overcoming Barriers 54

Struggling with a Lack of Diplomatic Relations

Pursuing ‘Olympic Relations’

Preparations and More Preparations

Chapter 4 Preparations for a New Leap Forward 78

An All-National Olympic Games

Organisation of the SLOOC

Full-Scale Efforts to Acquire Manpower and Facilities

Facilities

Chapter 5 Soviet Participation 94

Boycott Threat

Communicating in the Darkness

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Northern Diplomacy

Chapter 6 Inter-Korean Sports Talks 128

South Meets North in Lausanne

Joint Hosting or Dispersed Hosting?

Hope for North Korea’s Participation Evaporates

Chapter 7 Organisation of the Games 143

Endless Demands of the Olympic Family

Four Principles

First Olympic Medal in Gymnastics

Issues for Korean Sports

Chapter 8 Television Rights 189

TV Rights for Sports Development Funding

The Battle for US Dollars

Tug-of-War with NBC

Japan TV Rights Negotiations

EBU and OIRT TV Rights Negotiations

Negotiations with Other Regions

Chapter 9 Cultural Programmes and Ceremonies 217

Torch Relay

Opening and Closing Ceremonies

Culture and Arts Programmes

Chapter 10 The Press and Broadcasting 239

The Media: 20th Century Pioneers

Main Press Centre

International Broadcasting Centre


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Chapter 11 Logistics and Support 258

Accreditation System

Sale of Admission Tickets

Tickets Sold by Sport

Security for Seoul and the Games

Transport

Press Villages

Accommodation

Chapter 12 Marketing and Finance 301

Balancing the Books

Tallying Up the Income

Dividing Up the Proceeds

Chapter 13 The World to Seoul, Seoul to the World 309

Restoring the Games to Their Original Purpose, Succeeding through

National Unity and International Cooperation, Remembering

the Biggest and Best Games Ever

List of IOC Members 313

Honorary IOC Members 316

Abbreviations 317

International Sports Associations 319

IOC Secretariat, headquarters hotel of the Seoul Olympics (1988)

Chapter 1


Chapter 1 The IOC and the Olympic Movement

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Sport has been a great social movement in modern times. It cannot solve all problems but it certainly influences human life.

The Olympic Movement has come a long way and become a great social force.

Founded by Baron Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 at Sorbonne, France, the IOC controls the Olympic Movement. The three pillars of the Olympic Movement are the IOC, which leads the Olympic Movement as its controlling body; the IFs, each of which governs its own sport; and the NOCs, which are responsible for the Olympic Movement in each territory or country. The IOC recognises NOCs in territories such as Puerto Rico, Hong Kong and Guam.

Even though the IOC has neither an army nor territory, it has survived for a century. It survived US President Jimmy Carter’s boycott against the 1980 Moscow Games, and it survived the retaliatory Soviet boycott against the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

The IOC is located at Chateau de Vidy in Lausanne, Switzerland. It has a Secretariat of about 80 people. Francois Carrard is the new Director General.

According to the Olympic Charter, the aims of the Olympic Movement are:

• To promote the development of those physical and moral qualities which are the basis of sport.

• To educate young people through sport to a spirit of better mutual understanding and of friendship, thereby helping to build a better and more peaceful world.

• To spread the Olympic principles throughout the world, thereby creating international goodwill.


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• To bring together every four years the athletes of the world in a great sports festival, the Olympic Games.

The powers of the IOC are:

• To encourage the organisation and development of sport and sport competition.

• To inspire and lead sport within the Olympic ideal, thereby promoting and strengthening friendship between the sportsmen of all countries.

• To ensure the regular celebration of the Olympic Games.• To make the Olympic Games ever more worthy of their glorious history

and of the high ideals which inspired their revival by Baron Pierre de Coubertin and his associates.

The Composition and Role of the IOC

The IOC consists of 92 members elected by its General Session at the recommendation of the Executive Board. The term of office falls into two categories: those elected before 1965 serve for life and those elected after 1966 serve until the age of 75 years.

IOC members are regarded as prominent social leaders in their countries; they enjoy respect and many privileges.

IOC members include royalty, bankers, politicians, scholars, lawyers, businessmen, government ministers and sports leaders. Members from royal families include the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Princess Anne of Great Britain, Princess Nora of Lichtenstein, Prince Albert of Monaco and Prince de Merode of Belgium. Prince Faisal of Saudi Arabia, former King Constantine of Greece and Prince Takeda of Japan are now honorary members.


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Other IOC members include USSR Sports Minister Marat Gramov; Sports Minister of the Russian Republic Vitaly Smirnov; Chinese Vice Minister of Sports Zhenliang He; Congo Sports Minister Jean-Claude Ganga; GDR Vice Minister of Sports Gunther Heinze; Nigerian ex-Foreign Minister Henry Olufemi Adfope; Italian Minister of Tourism and Sports Franco Carraro; Mexican Minister of Construction Pedro Ramirez Vasquez; Ivory Coast Ambassador Louis Girandou-N’diaye; and Mali Ambassador Lamine Keita.

Hamza Samah of Malaysia, General Dadang Suprayogi of Indonesia and Marshal Dawee Chullaspaya of Thailand are former ministers or deputy ministers. Mohamed Mzali is a former prime minister of Tunisia.

The six women IOC members are Princess Anne, Princess Nora, Pirjo Haggman, Flor Isava-Fonseca, Dame Mary Alison Glen-Haig and Anita DeFrantz.

Kevan Gosper of Australia, Count Jean de Beaumont of France and Carlos Ferrer of Spain are prominent businessmen. Marc Hodler of Switzerland, Richard Pound of Canada, Jim Worrall of Canada and Robert Helmick of the US are lawyers. Keba Mbaye of Senegal is deputy president of the International Court of Justice.

IOC members are elected by a General Session. They must be free from political influence and independent of any pressure. They represent the IOC in their own country, not their country in the IOC.

At present, the IOC has 90 members. This means that more than nine countries do not have IOC members. Countries with two IOC members are: the US, Spain, the USSR, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, France, Japan, India, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Yugoslavia, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Finland and Sweden. Twenty-seven IOC members are concurrently NOC presidents.

The IOC meets in one general session annually, except during Olympic years when it meets during both the Winter and Summer Games. All


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administrative work is carried out by the 11-member IOC Executive Board, which meets at least four times a year.

Currently, the IOC President is Juan Antonio Samaranch from Spain. He is Spanish, but he is also international. Samaranch is a politician, diplomat, sportsman and businessman.

The IOC President is elected for an eight-year term, and he may be re-elected for successive four-year terms. Four vice presidents and seven Executive Board members are elected for four-year terms; these positions are not eligible for continuous re-election.

Now sitting as vice presidents are Prince de Merode of Belgium, famous for doping control as chairman of the Medical Commission; Richard Pound of Canada, head of Marketing for IOC; Keba Mbaye of Senegal; and Zhenliang He of China.

The six Executive Board members are Vitaly Smirnov of the USSR, Kevan Gosper of Australia, Chiharu Igaya of Japan, Gunner Ericsson of Sweden, Kim Un-yong of South Korea and Robert Helmick of the US.

Each IOC member is an individual member but at the same time represents an organisation, such as an Amateur Sports Organisation or an NOC. He or she holds a high social position in his or her country, a considerable degree of financial independence and a career as a sportsman or sports administrator.

He or she is dedicated to the Olympic Movement and is the protector of the Olympic Charter in his or her own country. In its history of almost 100 years the IOC has built up a tradition of collegiality and family ties.

Whilst the IOC meets in its entirety only once each year, its work continues throughout the year through more than 20 commissions. Chaired by an Executive Board member in many cases, these commissions consist of IOC members as well as representatives from IFs, NOCs, broadcasting, business, medicine, and the print media.

Commissions negotiate marketing, sponsorships and television rights;


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promote development of mass sports; and assist the media in cooperating with the OCOGs. The medical commission, for example, includes a large panel comprising medical professionals involved in doping tests and doping control.

It is important to note that committee members are professionals within their own fields or from wealthy family backgrounds and that they receive no monetary compensation except for minimal expenses. Their dedication to the movement shows through their service.

Samaranch once said that very few organisations would have the financial resources to adequately compensate the work and hours put in by IOC members.

One of the very important tasks undertaken by the general session is to select the sites of the Summer and Winter Olympics.

Following rumours that the Montreal Games ran a deficit – although insiders knew that Montreal made US$150 million after the payment of construction costs for the 1976 Olympic facilities and operations – bidding for future Games sites generated less enthusiasm.

With the financial success of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, however, it has become typical for five or six cities to bid for the site.

The 1992 Summer and Winter Games sites were selected during the 1986 Lausanne IOC session. France was led by Premier Jacques Chirac, Barcelona by Premier Felipe Gonzalez and the Netherlands by Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers. For selection of the 1994 Winter Games during the Seoul IOC session on 15 September 1988, five cities submitted bids – led by King Carl Gustav XIV of Sweden, Prime Minister Mrs Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway, Deputy Premier Georgi Yordanov of Bulgaria, and Undersecretary Edward Derwinsky of the US.

International enthusiasm for the Olympic Movement is so strong that just by bidding, a heretofore unknown city gains worldwide publicity. The city hosting the Games will not only emerge financially in balance but also


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learn that the Olympic experience has laid the foundation for future success in many fields.

The site of the 1996 Summer Games will be selected in September 1990 at the Tokyo IOC session. Already Toronto (Canada), Manchester (UK), Atlanta (USA), Belgrade (Yugoslavia), Melbourne (Australia) and Athens (Greece) have announced their candidatures. Nagano (Japan), Sochi (USSR), Ostersund (Sweden), Salt Lake City (USA), Jaca (Spain) and Aosta (Italy) are mentioned as possible bidding cities for 1998 Winter Games. The decision is to be made at the Birmingham IOC session in 1991.

My Relationship with the IOC and Samaranch

I was elected at the 91st IOC general session on 17 October 1986, in Lausanne. Usually members are elected one year before and sworn in at the next year’s session. But because of the upcoming Seoul Games, Samaranch asked me to wait in the general session area. He wanted me to be sworn in right away so that I may be a fully functioning IOC member to help prepare for the Seoul Games.

Samaranch thought I would be elected on the afternoon of 17 October, but the session proceeded faster than expected and he had a hard time finding me.

During the induction ceremony, each IOC member holds an Olympic flag in his or her left hand and swears:

Accorded the honour of becoming a member of the International Olympic Committee and of representing it in my country and recognising my duties in this capacity, I pledge to serve the Olympic Movement to the best of my ability, to respect and assure the respect of all the principles of the Olympic Charter and the decisions of the


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IOC, which I consider as not subject to appeal on my part, keeping myself fee from any political or commercial influence and from any racial or religious considerations.

I was elected to a four-year term on the Executive Board at the Seoul IOC general session on 15 September 1988. The election process continued for three hours until two vacancies could be filled with more than 50 per cent of the votes. Mr Ericsson, who has been in service for 23 years, and I were elected from a field of six candidates.

Juan Antonio Samaranch was elected at the 83rd IOC general session in Moscow in July 1980, but re-elected to another mandate of four years at the San Juan IOC session by unanimous acclamation.

He was elected to the IOC as a member from Spain in 1966. He also was the second member from Spain, which was considered quite impossible at the time. The late Avery Brundage apparently tapped Samaranch as a future IOC President. He was the first Ambassador to Moscow in 1977 after having served as head of Catalonia’s Assembly and president of the Spanish Olympic Committee.

Samaranch was an IOC Executive Board member beginning in 1970 and vice president from 1974 to 1978. Many IOC members think that there would have been no boycott of the Moscow Games if Samaranch had been IOC President, because he would have responded before it was too late. He took over the IOC as permanent working president and CEO in actuality. Under his tenure, the IOC became financially sound and was able to construct a new building. Samaranch is a master at building a consensus. He gets up at 6 a.m., exercises regularly and goes to bed at 10.30 p.m. He never drinks more than one or two glasses of wine.

Samaranch built a broad foundation of support in his 10-member Executive Board. He reduced friction with the IFs by dividing them into three separate groups: summer, winter and recognised sports. He promised


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to visit all 167 NOCs, and he kept his promise.He brought unity to the Olympic Family behind the Olympic Movement.Samaranch is a professional businessman. The Olympic Movement is

standing on its own feet financially. Fees for TV rights are going up. The TOP programme is continuing. All of this income will go toward helping sports development and the Olympic Movement.

A solidarity programme is progressing actively, and a new Olympic museum is under construction.

Samaranch split the Winter and Summer Games so that the Olympics would occur every two years.

He believes in amateurism but he knows that we are living in the 20th century. He recognises that sports must adapt to changes but that the Olympic Games must be of the highest quality.

All OCOGs try to negotiate bigger fees for TV rights. But Samaranch thinks both in terms of higher figures and maximum coverage. That is why he supports letting EBU have the TV rights, although he knows the day of commercial TV and cable networks is coming.

Samaranch has displayed tremendous statesmanship. He says that he is a sports leader, but in real life he involves himself in politics.

After three boycotts of the Games he had to bring the Olympic Movement back on the right track, and he succeeded.

He was tough at times when people called for a change of site, and he said that the Games would be in Seoul or there would be no Games. He travelled all over Eastern Europe to meet with sports leaders and heads of state and to attend sports conferences and events.

He changed the Olympic Charter to send invitations to each NOC one year before the Opening Ceremony of the Games and require a response within four months. He called South Korea-North Korea sports talks to propose that five sports be organised in North Korea. He kept the door open to North Korea until the last minute.


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He came to South Korea to meet opposition political leaders Kim Dae-jung, Kim Young-sam and Kim Jong-pil to explain to them about IOC efforts to allow some sports to be organised in North Korea but retain Seoul’s position as the sole host of the 1988 Games. He promised to pursue this goal as long as possible.

Samaranch has been at the forefront of anti-doping efforts in the Olympics. Some people say that he should be a candidate for a Nobel prize. He argues that any honour should not go to him but to the entire IOC.

With a history of almost 100 years as an international organisation, the IOC, under chairmanship of Samaranch, finally restored the Olympic Movement to its original purpose by organising the Games of the 24th Olympics in Seoul, the largest and the most profitable ever with the participation of 160 NOCs.

There are three pillars in the Olympic Movement.With the IOC as leader, the Olympic Movement and sport development

have two partners.The IFs constitute one partner. The IFs control individual sports and

are responsible for technical jurisdiction in the Olympic Games. There are three associations recognised by the IOC – the Association of the Summer International Federations, the Association of the Winter International Federations and the Association of Recognised International Federations – which encompass all summer programme sports, winter programme sports and sports that are recognised but not yet on the Olympic programme.

The GAISF, with Thomas Keller of rowing as its head, has had many conflicts with the IOC over who controls sports. With a new president at its helm, GAISF is now active as a partner of the IOC and the Olympic Movement. Each maintains its own autonomy but also cooperates on advancing the Olympic Movement and the development of sports.

The ANOC is headed by Mexico’s Mario Vazquez Rana. Each NOC is the prime mover of the Olympic Movement in its own territory. The IOC


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supports its programmes through the Solidarity Fund. The IOC has also paid airfare, room and board for up to eight athletes and officials per NOC and provided each NOC with US$8,000 for equipment and US$500 cash for up to six athletes in the Seoul Games.

I attended the IOC General Session in Baden-Baden with the meeting’s general secretary, West German IOC member Walther Troeger (1981)

Chapter 2

Autumn in Baden-Baden

Chapter 2 Autumn in Baden-Baden

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The Dream of Hosting the Olympics

No one in Korea even knew where Baden-Baden was until it became a centre of attention because of the Olympic Congress.

When I attended the NOC meeting in Abidjan in April 1977, representing the Korean Olympic Committee, I heard Walther Troeger of West Germany reporting on preparations for the congress.

When I went to the Montreal Olympics in 1976, I never thought Korea would host the Olympic Games.

The objective of the KOC was not to lose too badly to Japan, to triumph over North Korea and to someday organise the Asian Games.

Korea had been forced to return its bid for the 1996 Asian Games with a penalty of US$100,000 after the government decided that economic development was a better use of its money.

After the success of the World Shooting Championships in Seoul in 1978, the idea of bidding for the Olympic Games was entertained.

Mayor Chung Sang-chun explored the question, but most of the people involved, including Economic Planning Board Minister Nam Duk-woo and IOC member Kim Taek-su, were pessimistic.

I attended the Sports Policy Deliberation Council chaired by Prime Minister Choi Kyu-ha in the spring of 1979. Education Minister Park Chan-hyun, Mayor Chung Sang-chun, KOC president Park Jong-kyu and IOC member Kim Taek-su also attended.

Park insisted we should try, whilst Kim Taek-su predicted that Korea would get only one vote and that it would be his. I was more positive, but others were quiet. No decision was made.

All studies, efforts to find the pros and cons, and domestic policies were forced to a stop before we had really even started on 26 October 1979 when President Park Chung-hee was assassinated. Soon Park Jong-kyu had to resign from the KOC for political reasons in May 1980. Not until General


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Chun Doo-hwan was established as President of the Republic of Korea was South Korea’s Olympic bidding re-initiated. This was thanks to a move through Political Affairs Minister Roh Tae-woo, who persuaded President Chun to agree. All factions of the leadership liked sports, and they needed a way to show a new emerging Korea to the world.

All-Out Bidding Warfare

The Korean Olympic Committee sent a telex to the IOC in February 1981, but no activities actually started and no firm decision was made until May 1981. Still, the IOC dispatched an IOC, IF and NOC delegation. I was at the IOC-IF meeting in Lausanne on 9–10 April. Thomas Keller, president of GAISF and Summer Federations, invited both Nagoya and Seoul to come and present reports on their preparations. Nagoya had already been active for two years and made a presentation, but Seoul did not even respond. At this point, Keller suggested that Seoul should be dropped from the candidacy list. Samaranch saved Seoul by saying that Seoul would not be dropped, explaining that the IOC delegation was on an evaluation mission and that two candidate cities would be better than one.

I talked to Samaranch, explaining how Seoul was seriously preparing. He assured me that I should not worry but urged me to work hard for the bid. Keller was very angry about Seoul’s failure to respond to his telex. He protested to Cho Sang-ho, president of KOC, and Chun Sang-jin, vice president of KOC, even after Baden-Baden. Seoul had not made any decision then and could not respond. Cho said that he had not received the telex; Keller said that they might have missed a telegram, but that they could not have missed a telex. I had to appease Keller, and even Charles Palmer.

I never imagined that I would succeed Keller as GAISF president five


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years later. I wonder how different things would have been if Samaranch had accepted Keller’s recommendation to drop Seoul from the list of bidding cities.

I was impressed with the presentation and film of the Los Angeles Olympic Organising Committee. But the film that I had seen in Seoul before my departure was not of a high quality. Upon my return, I suggested that it should be changed so that it showed all aspects of Korean life, including sports facilities. The film eventually shown at Baden-Baden depicted everything about Korea and was better than Nagoya’s.

Most of the audience did not know much about Korea, and they were impressed with the modern Korea they saw in the film – a nation rich in ancient culture and tradition.

The NOC sent Don Miller and Richard Palmer on 28 March for an evaluation. The IOC sent Giulio Onesti in April, and Adrian Pauleen came in June for the IF.

Things were progressing but no firm decision had yet been made in Seoul. People in Korea simply did not comprehend sports community operations, as Korean sports leaders had not been exposed to the international sports community.

Korea had to start from scratch.The Sports Ministry was instructed to survey the situation. The Mayor of

Seoul wrote a formal letter to each NOC declaring Seoul’s candidacy. The KOC sent Chun to a PASO meeting, and I visited both South and North America.

I was running World Games I in Santa Clara. I flew to Ecuador to see IOC member Augustin Arroyo, to Panama to see Virginio de Leon and to New York to see Julian Roosevelt. I also invited Louis Guirandou to Seoul. He was the first IOC member to visit City Hall for a briefing on Seoul’s preparations.

Seoul had not had many contacts with the Olympic Family in those


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days. I invited Jan Staubo from Norway to seek his advice. He came with Arild Honne, but his attitude when he arrived was negative. After much discussion and a tour of the city to see the preparations, he changed his mind slightly, saying that we had a chance but not much time.

I had lunch with Roosevelt and Richard Pound at the New York Harvard Club. Roosevelt told me to tell the Korean Embassy people not to bother him.

Whilst Seoul was still vacillating, Minister of Education Lee Kyu-ho urged me to do my best. He joked that he would be ‘kicked out if we could not get either the Asian or Olympic Games’. He was a supporter, and I was an operator. We worked as a team.

I heard that Kim Jip, later the Sports Minister, had been sent by Kim Taek-su to see IOC member Masaji Kiyokawa to explore the possibility of his supporting Korea in the Asian Games bidding if Seoul withdrew from the Olympic bidding. Kiyokawa flatly rejected the idea and we had to pursue our plan.

Seoul was still wavering even after the bidding application had been submitted to the IOC. Park Jong-kyu persuaded then Minister of Political Affairs Roh Tae-woo, who in turn persuaded President Chun that we had a chance and that we needed help.

I told the press many times that the IOC had 80 members and that they do not vote by countries; that Korea lacked diplomatic relations with socialist countries but socialist IOC members numbered only about 10; that not all IOC members were necessarily friends of Japan; that Japan had hosted both the Winter and Summer Games whilst Korea had never hosted the Games, and the Games are supposed to be for the world; that Seoul was already constructing venues whilst Nagoya had only plans on paper; and that whilst people thought of Seoul as being an unknown quantity, it was much more modern than the world realised, and a publicity campaign would help.


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Bidding in most cities begins with city officials and the sports community. But Korea was not ready.

In earlier days, the Games were mostly handled by sports people. But now that the Games had become so large and complicated – involving airport control, immigration, customs, port authorities, heath affairs, facilities and security – the composition of the organising committee had become dependent on government.

In the case of Seoul, once a presidential decision had been made the bidding was initiated by the government. A total concentration of efforts was easier for Seoul than it was for Nagoya. It was Nagoya vs Korea in terms of manpower, resources, preparations and funding.

Competing with Nagoya

More working level meetings and operational plans continued through July. Education Minister Lee Kyu-ho, Hyundai Group chairman Chung Ju-young, Lee Sun-gi of the Prime Minister’s office, Seoul Mayor Park Young-su and I formed the main team. KBS president Lee Won-hong joined the group later on.

One day I received a letter from IOC director Monique Berlioux asking me why I was listed in two accreditation categories: as World Taekwondo Federation president and as a member of the official delegation of the Seoul Bidding Committee. I was told that I could only accept one of them.

Congress consists of the IOC, IFs and NOCs, which meet to discuss the future of the Olympic Movement. Accreditation categories were A for the IOC, B for the IF, C for the NOC and D for six official delegates from each bidding city. Categories A, B and C could attend all congress sessions, whereas D could attend only the presentation of bidding for one-and-a-half hours.


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I thought over the situation and decided to take B accreditation rather than a D as an official delegate, because B would allow me to be in session throughout the congress, whilst as a D my activities would be limited.

At a Lotte Hotel meeting I recommended Lee Won-kyung as an official delegate in my place. People objected without knowing the reason. They thought that I was only doing so out of Oriental humbleness, but I succeeded by insisting for the sake of free manoeuvrability. I had been exposed to sports circles the longest and I had many acquaintances. I offered many ideas on operations, including films. Most of my ideas were adopted.

Many people thought that we had spent a lot of money, but we had not. We met many people in Baden-Baden to explain about our enthusiasm for hosting the Games and about our capabilities and preparations. All of the members of our delegation, in both official and supporting functions, worked hard. Whether they knew IOC members or not did not matter; they simply worked hard.

On the way to Baden-Baden, Chung Ju-young and I went to see Raoul Mollet and Prince de Merode in Brussels and Cornelius Kerdel in The Hague. In Brussels, Raoul Mollet and Adrian van den Eede arranged my meeting with Prince de Merode, who kindly invited me to his home for a luncheon. Chung Ju-young went to see the Grand Duke of Luxembourg as well as Lord Luke and Lord Porrit in London. Hamzah Samah was ill in bed and had decided not to come, but my classmate, Korean Ambassador Choi Ho-joong in Malaysia, grabbed him and persuaded him to come to Baden-Baden. I took him to the Frankfurt Airport on his return. In the end, Louis Guirandou-N’Diaye, Lance Cross, Virginio de Leon, Julian Roosevelt, Niels Holst-Sorensen, Augustin Arroyo, Hamzah Samah, Horst Dassler and Mario Vazquez Rana all advised us.

The IOC hotel was the Brenners Park; the IFs were at the Bellevue; the NOCs were at the Europaischer or Badischer. For us, the French restaurant


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Stahlbad and the Chinese restaurant China Palace were important places.I cannot recall how many friends I met during my stay at Baden-Baden.

Anti-Seoul manoeuvres by socialist nations in Baden-Baden were strong. The Eastern Bloc, which supported North Korea, could not accept the southern half of Korea organising the Olympic Games. Korea had no diplomatic relations with the Eastern Bloc. A boycott threat was expected if Seoul was granted the right to host the Games. Questions on safety, organisational ability, distance and the special position of Korea as a divided nation certainly put Seoul in a disadvantageous position compared with Nagoya.

The exhibition rooms were at the Alter Bahnhof. Nobody thought Seoul would win. We had learned the lesson that nothing should be taken for granted until all the votes are counted. It seemed that Nagoya took too much for granted. Its exhibition room was unimpressive, with two young women and some photos.

The Korean room was open to the IOC President and Executive Board members. Korea’s exhibition was lively, with photos of construction work and preparations, booklets, brochures, ginseng tea and wine. The room was staffed by five Korean Air stewardesses in traditional dress and three Miss Koreas.

They were graceful, attractive and enthusiastic promoters for Korea. Seoul’s presentation was well done and all questions were answered. When Yuri Titov, president of FIG from the USSR, asked how Seoul could organise the Olympics when it was asking for a loan of US$6 billion from Japan, former Deputy Premier Yu Chang-soon convincingly explained that the loan was for economic development. The cost of the Olympic organisation was a different matter, he said, noting the history of other countries that had done the same thing for economic construction. Seoul did not yet have colour TVs, but KBS did an excellent job answering Lance Cross’s questions on satellites and IBC.


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After the presentations by the two bidding cities, the IOC and the IFs had a technical meeting, which I attended. The concerns were that Seoul was too remote and that it had no facilities.

A Poignant ‘Séoul - Corée’

The next afternoon, when the IOC President announced that Seoul had been awarded the Games by a 52-27 vote, the world as well as Korea was shocked.

Many international observers were concerned about a boycott by socialist nations, security and Seoul’s organising abilities. But like it or not, the decision had been made by the IOC, and Seoul and the IOC were on the road to achieving the largest and most successful festival of mankind in peacetime and in the history of the Olympic Movement.

I have described it as a competition between Nagoya and Korea rather than between Nagoya and Seoul. Korea emerged from out of its ‘Japan complex’ in Baden-Baden. Baden-Baden was a start: the Olympic Games were a turning point for Korea to move into the ranks of the world’s advanced nations.

In the absence of much exposure among sports leaders, Seoul instead used every means at its disposal. It had to convince IOC members with its preparations, enthusiasm and capabilities for organising the Games. Official delegations, supporting groups, sports leaders, business leaders and diplomats all participated in the effort, and they all worked hard. Korea used diplomatic channels but also took advantage of business executives to approach IOC members in countries where they conducted business. Cho Choong-hoon of Korean Air, Choi Won-suk of Dong-Ah Construction, Kim Woo-choong of Daewoo, Park Jong-kyu of ISF, the Korean press in Europe and the diplomatic corps did their best for the Olympics cause.


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Baden-Baden was a total operation for Seoul as the Olympic Games were a total dedicated effort by all the Korean people. The support of people and the government were key expressions of their desire to organise the Games. Hard work and a take-nothing-for-granted attitude are always important factors. Korea’s quiet, humble, sincere approach in convincing the IOC that it could prepare, build facilities and organise the Games and welcome all the Olympic Family according to the Olympic Charter and rules were the keys to Seoul’s successful bidding.

I met Keller and Mario Vazquez Rana two days before the presentation at the Stahlbad restaurant. For the first time Keller told me that Seoul had a chance. In the beginning he had predicted that Nagoya would win. Vazquez helped Chung Ju-young to meet Horst Dassler of Adidas. Some Nagoya citizens demonstrated against the city’s bid for the Olympics. There were rumours of a demonstration against Seoul by Koreans living abroad. Supposedly, General Choi Hong-hi, a Korean emigré in Canada, was coming to Baden-Baden to stage an anti-Seoul demonstration. Cho Sang-ho of the KOC and others were shaken up by the possibility. I didn’t really believe the rumour, but I called five taekwondo instructors in Europe to have them stand by the entire time. In the end, nothing happened.

One day, a taekwondo instructor in Stuttgart, Park Soo-nam, came to see us at the hotel with jars full of Korean food in the trunk of his car. Hotel Bellevue was heavily guarded because Prince Philip, Yuri Titov, Primo Nebiolo, Milan Ercegan and all of the IF Presidents and secretaries-general were staying there. Guards opened his trunk to find kettles and jars. Suspicious, they grabbed him by the arms and sent him away. He was allowed back the next day.

As is usual at such gatherings, some people approached us, claiming they controlled and could deliver a certain number of votes. I never believed their claims. Some members of the press wrote that Nagoya would surely win. I met with Takeshi Miyakawa of Kyodo News and Ken Reich of


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the Los Angeles Times just before the announcement, and both of them predicted that Japan would win by a margin of 20 votes.

That is the convention and the competition.Hardworking and enthusiastic Seoul won and moved forward to organise

the Olympic Games, and Seoul became known to the whole world.That evening, a reception was hosted at the Kurhaus. Chung Ju-young,

who had worked harder than anybody else even though he was not from the sports community, drank and sang and danced. Cho Choong-hoon of Korean Air brought a jumbo 747 to return us to Seoul. In those days DC-10s had been flying the Paris route. The whole delegation visited the Cheong Wa Dae to meet President Chun Doo-hwan with Minister of State for National Security and Foreign Affairs Roh Tae-woo.

We were infused with a spirit of accomplishment about what the group – not any one individual – had achieved.

President Chun praised the returning delegation. ‘Usually people just brag about themselves, but this time that didn’t happen,’ he said. ‘It is a good sign of unity.’

When Samaranch announced that the Games had been awarded to Seoul by a vote of 52 to 27, the whole world was shocked, Korea included. People in Seoul did not understand the serious consequences of the IOC’s decision. Instead they celebrated. I felt no emotion. I was overwhelmed by the enormous responsibility that had been entrusted to the Korean people.

One battle was over, but more battles were to come. We had just started.


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Official Programme11th Olympic Congress, Baden-Baden 1981

20.09 DimancheSundaySonntag

9.00-18.00 hArrivé/Enregistrement

19.00-24.00 hCommission exécutive du CIORéunion de l’ACNODîner offert à la Commission exécutive du CIO

9.00 a.m.–6.00 p.m.Arrival/Registration

7.00 p.m.–12.00 p.m.IOC Executive BoardGeneral meeting of ANOCDinner for IOC Executive Board

9.00-18.00 UhrAnkunft/Registrierung

19.00-24.00 UhrExecutivausschuß des IOCGeneralversammlung der NOKsDinner für Executivausschuß des IOC

21.09 LundiMondayMontag

9.00-12.30 hCommission exécutive du CIORéunion de l’ACNO

12.30-14.30 hDéjeuner

15.00 hRéunion de la Commission exécutive du CIO avec les CNO

16.00-19.00 hRéunion des FI

19.00-24.00 hRéception donnée aux FI

9.00 a.m.–12.30 p.m.IOC Executive BoardGeneral meeting of ANOC

12.30 p.m.–2.30 p.m.Lunch

3.00 p.m.IOC Executive Board with the NOCs

4.00 p.m.–7.00 p.m.Meeting of IFs

7.00 p.m.–12.00 p.m.Reception given for IFs

9.00-12.30 UhrExecutivausschuß des IOCGeneralversammlung der NOKs

12.30-14.30 UhrMittagspause

15.00 UhrExecutivausschuß des IOCmit NOKs

16.00-19.00 UhrVersammlung der IFs

19.00-24.00 UhrEmpfang für die IFs

22.09 MardiTuesdayDienstag

9.00-12.30 hCommission exécutive du CIORéunion des FIRéunion de l’ACNOOuverture de l’exposition des villes candidates pour les Jeux olympiques de 1988


14.30-18.00 hRéunion d’information du CIO sur les Congrès

9.00 a.m.–12.30 p.m.IOC Executive BoardMeeting of IFsGeneral meeting of ANOCOpening of the exhibitions of the candidate cities for the 1988 Olympic Games

12.30 p.m.–2.30 p.m.Lunch

2.30 p.m.–6.00 p.m.Information meeting of the IOC on the Congress

9.00-12.30 UhrExecutivausschuß des IOCVersammlung der IFsGeneralversammlung der NOKsEröffnung der Ausstellung der Bewerberstädte für die Olympischen Spiele 1988


14.30-18.00 UhrSitzung des IOC; Information über den Kongreß


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23.09 MercrediWednesdayMittwoch

9.00-12.30 hCommission tripartite du CIO


15.30 hRéception donnée par le Président de la Rép. Fédérale d’Allemagne au CIO et à la Commission tripartite du CIO

16.30 hCérémonie officielle d’ouverture du Congrès et de la 84e Session du CIO

18.30-20.00 hRéception pour les délégués

21.00 hCommission tripartite du CIO (si nécessaire)

9.00 a.m.-–12.30 p.m.IOC Tripartite Commission

12.30 p.m.–2.30 p.m.Lunch

3.30 p.m.Reception given by the President of the Fed. Rep. of Germany for IOC and IOC Tripartite Commission

4.30 p.m.Official opening ceremony of the Congress and the 84th IOC Session

6.30–8.00 p.m.Reception for the delegates

9.00 p.m.IOC Tripartite Commission (if necessary)

9.00-12.30 UhrIOC-Dreier-Kommission


15.30 UhrEmpfang des Bundespräsidenten für IOC und IOC-Dreier-Kommission

16.30 UhrFeierliche Eröffnung des Kongresses und der 84. IOC-Session

18.30-20.00 UhrEmpfang für die Delergierten

21.00 UhrIOC-Dreier-Kommission(falls erforderlich)

24.09 JeudiThursday

Donnerstag

9.00-12.30 hCongrès olympique

10.00hPrésentation de l’Ordre olympique

10.45-11.45 hRapport du COJO de Moscou

11.45-12.30 hRapport du COJO de Lake Placid

12.30-14.30 hDéjeunerCommission tripartite du CIO


19.00-20.30 hCommission tripartite du CIO (si nécessaire)

9.00 a.m.–12.30 p.m.Olympic Congress

10.00 a.m.Presentation of the Olympic Order

10.45 a.m.–11.45 a.m.Report from the Moscow OCOG

11.45 a.m.–12.30 p.m.Report from the Lake Placid OCOGLake Placid

12.30 p.m.–2.30 p.m.Lunch IOC Tripartite Commission

2.30 p.m.–6.00 p.m. Olympic Congress

7.00 p.m.–8.30 p.m.IOC Tripartite Commission(if necessary)

9.00-12.30 UhrOlympischer Kongreß

10.00 UhrÜberreicherung der Olympischen Ordem

10.45-11.45 UhrBericht des Organisationskomitees Moskau

11.45-12.30 UhrBericht des Organisationskomitees Lake Placid

12.30-14.30 UhrMittagspauseIOC-Dreier-Kommission


19.00-20.30 UhrIOC-Dreier-Kommission(falls erforderlich)


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25.09 VendrediFridayFreitag





12.30 p.m.–2.30 p.m.Lunch IOC Tripartite Commission

2.30 p.m.–6.00 p.m.Olympic Congress




26.09 SamediSaturdaySamstag




9.00 a.m.–12.30 p.m.Olympic Congress12.30 p.m.–2.30 p.m.Lunch IOC Tripartite Commission

2.30 p.m.–6.00 p.m.Olympic Congress




27.09 DimancheSundaySonntag

Jour de repos pour les délégués

Commission tripartite du CIO

Rest day for the delegates

IOC Tripartite Commission

Ruhetag für die Delegierten

IOC-Dreier-Kommission

28.09 LundiMondayMontag



14.30-18.00 hClôture du 11e Congrès olympique (jusqu’à 16.00h)

19.00-24.00 hRéception donnée par le Premier Ministre du Land de Bade-Wurtemberg pour les délégués avec Ballet du Théâtre de Stuttgart


12.30 p.m.–2.30 p.m.LunchIOC Tripartite Commission

2.30 p.m.–6.00 p.m.Closing of the 11th Olympic Congress (till16.00 Uhr)

7.00 p.m.–12.00 p.m.Reception given by the Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg for the delegates with Ballet of the Stuttgart Theatre



14.30-18.00 UhrAbscluß des 11. Olympischen Kongress (bis 16.00 Uhr)

19.00-24.00 UhrEmpfang des Ministerpräsidenten von Baden-Württemberg für die Delegierten mit Ballett des Stüttgarter Theaters

29.09 MardiTuesdayDienstag

9.00-12.00 hPrésentation des villes candidates au CIO


9.00 a.m.–12.00 a.m.Presentation of the candidate cities to the IOC

12.30 p.m.–2.30 p.m.Lunch

9.00-12.00 UhrPräsentation der Bewerberstädte vor dem IOC



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30.09 MercrediWednesdayMittwoch

9.00-12.30 hSession du CIO


14.30-18.00 hSession du CIOElection des villes olympiques pour 1988

16.00-17.00 h (environ) Proclamation des villes olympiques élues pour 1988

19.00-24.00hRéception donnée par les villes olympiques élues (facultatif)

9.00 a.m.–12.30 p.m.IOC Session

12.30 p.m.–2.30 p.m.Lunch

2.30 p.m.–6.00 p.m.IOC SessionElection of Olympic cities for 1988

4.00 p.m.–5.00 p.m. (circa)Announcement of the 1988 Olympic Cities

7.00 p.m.–12.00 p.m.Reception given by the elected Olympic Cities (optional)

9.00-12.30 UhrIOC-Session


14.30-18.00 UhrIOC-SessionWahl der Olympiastädte 1988

16.00-17.00 Uhr (circa)Bekanntgabe der Olympiastädte 1988

19.00-24.00 UhrEmpfang der gewählten Olympiastädte (facultativ)

01.10 JeudiThursday

Donnerstag

9.00-12.30 hSession du CIORapport des villes olympiques de 1984 Los Angeles et Sarajevo



9.00 a.m.–12.30 p.m.IOC SessionReports of the 1984 Olympic Cities Los Angeles and Sarajevo

12.30 p.m.–2.30 p.m.Lunch

2.30 p.m.–6.00 p.m.IOC Session

9.00-12.30 UhrIOC-SessionBerichte der Olympiastädte 1984 Los Angeles und Sarajevo



02.10 VendrediFridayFreitag




19.00-24.00 hRéception donnée par le Président du CNO pour l’Allemagne pour le CIO

9.00 a.m.–12.30 p.m.IOC Session

12.30 p.m.–2.30 p.m.Lunch

2.30 p.m.–6.00 p.m.IOC Session

7.00 p.m.–12.00 p.m.Reception given by the President of the NOC for Germany for the IOC




19.00-24.00 UhrEmpfang des Präsidenten des NOK für Deutschland für das IOC

03.10 SamediSaturdaySamstag

Départ

Commission exécutive du CIO (si nécessaire)

Departure

IOC Executive Board(if necessary)

Abreise

Executivausschuß des IOC (falls erforderlich)

The 5th General Assembly of ANOC at the Lotte Hotel, Seoul (1986)

Chapter 3

International Relations – Overcoming Barriers

Chapter 3 International Relations – Overcoming Barriers

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Struggling with a Lack of Diplomatic Relations

In all Olympic Games, international relations are of paramount importance because they involve all countries on earth trying to achieve a better understanding of each other and goodwill in an effort to contribute to world peace.

Olympic organisations are designated by the IOC under the Olympic Charter and rules. Naturally the IOC is the most important body, requiring cooperation from the OCOG.

When it was tapped to host the 1988 Olympic Games, South Korea had no diplomatic relations with many countries, particularly with the Soviet bloc and China. There were no diplomatic or official economic or cultural relations of any kind. The efforts of the Seoul Olympic Organising Committee (SLOOC) had been hampered constantly by boycotts and terrorist threats, calls for a change of site and invasion threats.

SLOOC had to establish some kind of relations with these countries in addition to reinforcing cooperative measures with those nations that did recognise South Korea. These were priority concerns of the IOC and SLOOC, especially after the Soviet boycott of the Los Angeles Games.

The government had to involve itself in customs clearance, immigration procedures, communications, broadcasting, facilities, quarantines, security, airport control, maritime services and just about everything else imaginable. Whilst there were no relations with these countries on a bilateral basis, multinational relations existed to some extent at international events and conferences.

These relations were an important component in bringing the entire Olympic family to the Seoul Games, thereby eliminating concerns about boycotts, terrorist threats and confrontations with North Korea and reinforcing relations in the economic, cultural and sports fields.

SLOOC had to gradually develop NOC relations under the IOC umbrella


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and thus establish firm Olympic relations in the absence of diplomatic relations.

Accomplishing these goals was possible through the IOC alone and assurances to these countries that their participation in the Seoul Games would be under comfortable conditions. IOC efforts in this regard included the convening of an ANOC meeting and an ASOIF meeting in Seoul in 1986, calling for inter-Korean sports talks in Lausanne on four occasions and changing the Olympic Charter provision on sending invitations to NOCs.

Pursuing ‘Olympic Relations’

The necessary steps forward were numerous.Sports officials from the world’s NOCs exchanged visits. They

cooperated on ironing out the details that would allow each delegation to participate, including such matters as accommodations, security, language barriers, landing rights for charter airplanes and mooring rights for ships.

Agreements on establishing reciprocal trade offices, issuing entry visas and protecting nationals represented significant progress.

The Seoul Games are a perfect example of sports opening the door for further development of relations between countries that had no formal relations. Not only did these nations participate in the Seoul Olympics, but their participation also signalled the start of future diplomatic, cultural and economic relations.

This is what the Olympics can do.Seoul now has diplomatic relations with Hungary, Poland, Yugoslavia,

Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Mongolia as well as consular relations with the Soviet Union. Soon relations with the GDR will open up as well.


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SLOOC engaged in ‘Olympic relations’ to ensure the attendance of the socialist countries. Where rules or precedents did not exist, the Olympic Charter and its rules were applied. If we could not make exchanges on a bilateral basis, we used multinational methods. If we could not exchange telexes, we used GAISF and the IOC as intermediaries. The IOC was always there as guardian of these relations and as a bridge. Some sports leaders in Eastern Europe were government ministers as well as being Olympic officials.

SLOOC was the agent responsible for preparing for the Olympic Games, with authority delegated by the IOC under the Olympic Charter.

Naturally, everything SLOOC did was bound by the IOC Charter and subject to the control of the IOC, which governs all NOCs throughout the world. When SLOOC could not solve a problem, the IOC was there to help. When SLOOC did not know or understand something, the IOC was there to offer its expertise. In the organisation of the Olympic Games, close cooperation between the IOC and the host city/country is a fundamental prerequisite.

Samaranch phoned me almost every day as the Games approached. In touch with everything that was going on in the world, he would advise SLOOC. Though brief, the telephone conversations resolved many small issues. The frequent communication also cleared up any misunderstandings in the minds of the IOC members about the IOC President.

And there were many issues: calls for a change of the site, boycott and terrorist threats, questions about participation, TV rights, protocols, accommodations, security, the media, NOC cooperation, pre-Olympic Games, medical facilities, doping, eligibility, conferences, finances, venues, accreditation, languages and the IOC session.

After the first official report on SLOOC’s preparations by SLOOC president Roh Tae-woo at the Los Angeles IOC session during the 1984 Games, SLOOC sent delegations to the general sessions of the IOC on


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seven occasions.It was a difficult time when the 88th IOC session was held in Los

Angeles in 1984. Hampered by the Soviet-led boycott, it was the first learning experience for SLOOC personnel, most of whom had never attended the Olympics. SLOOC had difficulties accrediting enough personnel.

SLOOC’s presentations at these IOC sessions were always followed by questions, answers and films. SLOOC and the South Korean government guaranteed the safety of participants and promised strict observance of the Olympic Charter. SLOOC never failed to thank the IOC for its cooperation and assistance.

At the 89th IOC session in Berlin, it remained uncertain whether the socialist bloc nations would participate in the Seoul Games.

These were the days when North Korea was still manoeuvring for a boycott and there was not much contact between South Korea and the socialist nations. Some people were still uneasy about Seoul as a host city for the Games. Roh Tae-woo and the SLOOC delegation were received in Berlin with a cordial but cautious welcome.

No socialist country had yet sent a representative to Seoul to discuss its participation, whilst the Western NOCs already had begun to arrive.

The 91st IOC session in Lausanne in October 1986 was a big one because both the 1992 Summer and Winter Games sites would be selected there. Brechtesgarten (FGR), Fallun (Sweden), Sofia (Bulgaria), Albertville (France), Anchorage (US) and Lillehammer (Norway) bid for the Winter Games. Barcelona (Spain), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Paris (France), Belgrade (Yugoslavia) and Brisbane (Australia) bid for the Summer Games. French premier Jacques Chirac and Spanish premier Felipe Gonzalez led the delegations for their respective countries. Exhibition booths were set up and the lobbying was intense. After this session the IOC established rules prohibiting IOC members from accepting souvenirs from bidders or


59

invitations of more than three days to bidding cities. Exhibition booths were also limited, as were receptions. Marc Hodler was charged with the task of making these rules.

Vitaly Smirnov and Kevan Gosper were elected to the Executive Board, and Prince de Merode was tapped as a new vice president to replace the outgoing Alexandru Sipercu, who could not stand for re-election because of Charter restrictions.

Preparations and More Preparations

SLOOC sent delegations to meetings of the IOC Executive Board 16 times to report on preparations. Roh Tae-woo led the SLOOC delegation five times, Park Seh-jik three times and myself eight times. It became practice for the SLOOC president to deliver a general report at the session, after which I would follow up with a detailed report on preparations and our particular problems.

SLOOC reports at the Executive Board meeting in Lausanne on 17 February 1987 covered communications (SLOOC had set up post office boxes in Geneva and Hong Kong to facilitate communications with all NOCs, including those of Africa); minor changes in competition schedules in athletics, canoeing, gymnastics, tennis and volleyball since their approval at the 91st IOC session; approval status of technical brochures by the IFs and the submission plan for IOC entry forms through the Istanbul session; reserved seats for athletes at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies (at least 3,000 were needed); Olympic torch relay schedules; accommodations and transportation, including SLOOC’s effort with the city of Seoul to provide free rides on public transport for Olympic Family members; quarantines for competition horses; language services; and the ticket sales plan for the fourth quarter of 1987, as well as prices for submission to the IOC in May.


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The allocation of tickets to NOCs always requires a lot of attention. All points in progress were covered.

At the Executive Board meeting in Calgary in February 1988, the areas covered included participation by NOCs; extending the deadline for payment of accommodation fees by two months from 31 January to 31 March; granting Olympic Family members and those in the Gv category automatic allocation of accommodation and admission ticket links; problems for visitors in accommodation and ticket links; accommodation expenses for demonstration sports; eliminating vaccination requirements for Olympic Family members entering Korea; improving the scoring equipment at the Gymnastics Hall; delivery status of accommodation guides for broadcasters, press accreditation forms, media guides and medical guides; and delivery of entry forms to the NOCs on 3 February.

Points covered at the previous meeting were skipped, and only new developments or pending issues were discussed. Samaranch and the Executive Board members were always helpful in their assistance to SLOOC, although they had to be sure everything was in order and that the demands of the NOCs and IFs were met. They wanted the best Games in Olympic history, and Samaranch wanted it to happen in Seoul.

At the Executive Board meeting on 25 April 1988 in Lausanne, the points discussed included exclusive cars, chauffeurs and boats for VIPs and the press at the Busan yachting competition; seating arrangements for athletes and officials, transferable C cards for NOCs in the amount of one for every 20 members, advance deposit waivers for some NOCs until they checked in at the village in September; locating the IOC stand close to the Royal Box at the Opening Ceremony; providing medical insurance for all IOC members, competitors and officials at SLOOC expense, but adding IF presidents and secretary generals and NOCs upon request of the IOC; free public transport; commentary positions and commentator information systems; language earphones for interpretation (including


61

German) at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies; programmes of the 94th General Session in Seoul; a sample badge of the IOC session; approval of an additional Olympic flame at Seoul’s DLI 63 building; establishment of a two-ring system for boxing; TV rights contracts; and publications for NOCs on accommodations, entry forms, media, medical facilities, NOC guides, quarantines, customs, transportation, tickets and Youth Camp information.

For the yachting opening and closing ceremonies, SLOOC was to provide a charter flight for IOC members, but this was later expanded to include NOCs, IFs and Olympic attachés. There were more requests, such as daily charter flights between Seoul and Busan. But it was decided that only reserved seats would be provided at SLOOC expense on regular KAL flights.

Room rates for the main hotel were prescribed only for IOC members. The IOC’s wish was that NOCs would receive the same rate. SLOOC finally agreed to the same rates for NOC presidents and secretary generals. But the Shilla Hotel was not ready to comply, and SLOOC had to supplement the additional cost of US$1.5 million. Seven to eight lines of hotline communications between the IOC and SLOOC leadership had to be set up. The opening of the Olympic Village was moved up to 1 September to accommodate the early arrival of some NOCs.

SLOOC provided accommodations for 1,500 extra officials and access privileges that were better than the Los Angeles Games, but soon demand for more access privileges – similar to those prescribed in the Charter – was registered. Exemption from the 10 per cent defence tax on all telephone bills used by Olympic Family members was requested. This was initially protested by broadcasters, including NBC and OIRT, but SLOOC decided to supplement the cost for all of the Olympic Family. Eastern European broadcasters claimed that they could not pay the cost of defence against their North Korean friends. Some national anthems were too long, and the IOC urged SLOOC to use abbreviated 30-second versions as had been done


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in the Montreal Olympics, but this plan was abandoned because only a few were two minutes long and most NOCs opposed shortening the anthems.

Use of the Olympic rings and SLOOC emblem on outdoor and indoor stadiums was recommended. Attachés were also appointed for 105 NOCs. Additional attachés were appointed by SLOOC upon request for smaller-sized NOCs. Local attachés were selected from local business firms that could provide assistance to or sponsor delegations.

Another report to the Executive Board took place on 25 July 1988. SLOOC and I went all out to welcome the Olympic Family and participants. The important thing was to make sure that decisions were executed after our return to Seoul. Any revision of the original plans or additional cost would encounter opposition. Yet nothing was impossible, and so we forged ahead.

The opening ceremony of the IOC General Session in Seoul was held at the National Theatre on 12 September 1988. Usually, the president of the host country is present at the opening of the IOC General Session. But in Seoul, South Korea’s head of state was to declare the Games open at the Opening Ceremony of the Games. Therefore, the opening of the IOC Session was attended by Prime Minister Lee Hyun-jae. In accordance with the Olympic Charter, President Roh Tae-woo hosted a reception at the Cheong Wa Dae on the evening of 14 September, the eve of the election of Executive Board members and selection of the site for the 1994 Winter Games. President Roh raised a toast to the IOC President, ASOIF and ANOC. He also said he could not fail to mention the GAISF president. At the time I was standing for election to the Executive Board of the IOC the next morning. I very much appreciated the thoughtful gesture.

The opening of the IOC Session is actually the responsibility of the NOC, but in the case of a host city of the Games the OCOG is to take charge. There were always rivalries between SLOOC, KOC, the Sports Ministry and the city of Seoul, and I had to adjudicate or advise according


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to the IOC rules. The IOC Session was entirely the responsibility of the IOC, and all ceremonies were to be approved in accordance with the IOC rules. President and Mme Samaranch, Prime Minister and Mrs Lee Hyun-jae, SLOOC President and Mrs Park Seh-jik, and my wife and I and waited in the anteroom before the ceremony was ready; we went to the front in procession. According to protocol, the IOC President, vice presidents, IOC members (in order of seniority), OCOG, IF and NOC are seated in that order. KOC President Kim Chong-ha welcomed the IOC members.

The KBS Orchestra followed his remarks with a performance of Korean folk music, after which came Samaranch’s speech. After expounding on his philosophy and policy on the Olympic Movement and its future, he thanked all those involved in organising the Seoul Olympics. ‘I could not possibly omit to mention the key role played by a man whom we all know and greatly esteem, since he is a member of each of our respective families,’ he said. ‘My colleague and friend Kim Un-yong, IOC member, president of GAISF, NOC member, vice president of the SLOOC. Without his experience and diplomacy these Games could not have been what they are.’

Between speeches by the Prime Minister and the IOC President, my youngest daughter, Kim Hae-jung, gave a seven-minute performance with the KBS Orchestra, playing the third movement of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. It has been the practice of the IOC to intersperse speeches or ceremonies with music. A child prodigy, Hae-jung had won numerous international piano competitions, including the first prize at the Juilliard Piano Competition (1980) at the age of 15, followed by first prizes in the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition (1983) and the Muenz Scholarship Piano Competition (1986), among many others.

Olympism is about sports combined with culture. Hae-jung received a standing ovation. Samaranch called her the unofficial IOC pianist. Princess Anne, Tay Wilson, Fidel Mendoza, C. K. Wu and Ram Ruhee were sworn


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in. The Korean drum dance was the last act. The session had to be finished in one hour.

Hae-jung performed four times during her 10-day stay. First she played at the opening ceremony of the IOC session, then with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra at the Swiss Grand Hotel and twice with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, once more at the Sejong Cultural Centre in a public concert and once at the National Arts Centre for volunteer workers.

The IOC Session lasted three days.All issues of the Olympic Movement were debated, including SLOOC’s

report on preparations. The Games were already on and preparations were checked in detail.

New members were elected, including Marat Gramov, Sinan Erdem, Willi Kaltschmitt, Francis Nyangweso and Boris Stankovic.

Keba Mbaye was elected as vice president with acclamation. Gunnar Ericsson and I were elected to the Executive Board after three hours of voting on seven candidates. Robert Helmick withdrew.

The biggest issue was the selection of the 1994 Winter Games site. The Summer and Winter Games were usually in the same year, but the IOC changed the schedule so that they would alternate every two years. This was the first election under the new rules. Anchorage, Lillehammer, Sofia and Ostersund were the candidates. Lausanne withdrew at the last minute after it failed to obtain enough votes in a national referendum. Now Samaranch was advising the bidding cities to hold national referendums, if necessary, before the bidding.

Everyone had a different guess as to which city would win. Some people thought that Sofia would be the choice, whilst others thought Ostersund was a strong candidate. To everyone’s surprise, Sofia was eliminated in the first round, whilst Anchorage lost the second time around. Lillehammer won over Ostersund in the final round.

The votes of IOC members are hard to predict. During the session I


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was called by Samaranch many times to solve problems that had arisen outside. I had to leave the sessions many times for that purpose, which led to missing the chance to take group pictures of IOC members.

Every morning at 8.30 during the Games period, the IOC Executive Board and SLOOC would assemble for a 30-minute coordination meeting on the 23rd floor of the Main Hotel. Participants at this meeting attempted to coordinate all daily routines and sort out problems. It was a most effective way to ensure a successful Games.

IOC President Samaranch visited Seoul for the first time in April 1982. After that he would visit Seoul 10 times to attend various sports events and meetings as well as to inspect preparations. In September 1983, he visited the Busan yachting site. In September 1984 he attended the opening of the Main Stadium. In August 1985, after the Universiade in Kobe, he visited the Olympic Park and the regatta course. In April 1986 he came to Seoul for the ANOC meeting and the IOC EB-ANOC meeting, which brought all of the NOCs of the world to Seoul, including those from socialist countries. In September 1986, he came to attend the Asian Games and an IOC EB-IF meeting, and he even discussed the matter of inter-Korean sports talks. All of his visits included numerous meetings with heads of state, government officials and SLOOC leadership and visits to sites.

In November 1987, he visited the Olympic Park, Athletes’ Village, Press Village, family apartments and Seoul equestrian park and attended a food tasting reception for the Athletes’ Village. In May 1988 – just before the Games – he met with leaders of political parties and was present at the opening of the swimming pool, Athletes’ Village, Press Village and IBC. His September visit was for the Games, whilst the tenth time he came to Seoul was in October to be present at the Paralympics. He returned to Seoul one more time on 17 September 1989 to attend the first anniversary celebrations of the Seoul Olympics.

At the Main Stadium opening in 1984, 26 IOC members were invited.


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Many Executive Board members and IOC members came to Korea, but as the Games drew closer Raymond Gafner, the administrateur délégué, and Francoise Zweifel, the IOC secretary general, visited more often to sort out details and handle troubleshooting. Mme Zweifel wanted authority to allocate rooms at the Shilla Hotel, which our accommodations director Chang Byung-sun opposed. I thought it would be better coordinated if Mme Zweifel had her way, so I agreed. SLOOC was to hold only 40 rooms. There were other facilities to support functions.

Mme Zweifel is an intelligent woman. She worked with Kim Sam-hoon of the International Department most of the time. She never lost her smile, even when things were difficult. She was always positive and helpful not only to SLOOC but also to the whole Olympic Family. She and the members of the International Department did not know each other, but through their partnership they soon became good friends. These relationships seem to be continuing even now – which is what the Olympic Movement and sports do for people. Once people become a part of the Olympic Family, they stay with the Olympic Family.

IOC director Monique Berlioux came to Seoul once in October 1982. Raymond Gafner visited four times, the first of them in April 1986. Mme Zweifel visited seven times. Michelle Verdier and 50 other Secretariat members also came to Seoul to visit SLOOC.

The safety and participation of all NOCs was important. Samaranch understood the special problems associated with the situation on the Korean Peninsula, and he handled all of these complicated issues intelligently. The IOC position on holding the Games in Seoul was firm.

In every crisis – such as when North Korean agents sabotaged a Korean Air flight or domestic political unrest picked up – the IOC supported SLOOC’s abilities to deal with safety and organisations in order to build trust with the NOCs. Boycott threats by Eastern Bloc nations and Cuba, followed by North Korea’s manoeuvring, were countered by Samaranch’s


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personal diplomacy in Eastern Europe as well as four rounds of inter-Korean sports talks in Lausanne.

SLOOC helped to organise IOC EB meetings. IOC General Sessions, IOC EB-SLOOC coordination meetings and IOC Commission meetings. It also had to help with the OCA General Assembly, AENOC meeting and ANOC Council meetings. Fourteen IFs had congresses during the Games.

Samaranch has said many times that the key to the success of the Games is international cooperation. This is the truth. Without international cooperation, everything – TV, marketing, participation, referees and competitions, and press security cooperation – becomes impossible. I picked up the title of ‘bridge’ since I understood the positions of the IOC, the IFs and NOCs more than anybody else. I went beyond the rules sometimes to make participation comfortable. We thought that Seoul had to do a little more than other Olympic host cities.

The IFs are more technical and more concerned with their own sports and officials. Still, the IFs as a body pledged full support many times to the Games in Seoul and those of the future, even when it was difficult at times to do so.

Through sports, they were colleagues. Most of the presidents and secretaries-general of the IFs had been my colleagues for many years. I had also taken over the GAISF presidency from Thomas Keller in 1986.

Every year, the IOC EB and IFs of both summer and winter sports, respectively, held meetings, sometimes in Lausanne and other times in the Olympics city. There are 25 summer Olympic federations, six winter federations and 15 recognised federations.

SLOOC had to work with 25 summer IFs, 2 IFs of demonstration sports and 2 IFs of exhibition sports. With the IFs being technical controllers of their sport, SLOOC and the IFs had to agree on venues, competition schedules, technical delegates, pre-Olympic Games, joint courses to train Korean coaches and officials, numbers of judges and referees, services,


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accommodations, equipment and credentials.Each IF is concerned more with the successful organisation of its own

sport in general and the interest of each is geared to sports development. Naturally, problems were related to competition. Each IF is an association of national federations, and the IF presidents, secretaries-general and technical delegates were truly international. The IAAF president is Primo Nebiolo of Italy and his secretary general is John Holt of Great Britain. FIFA is headed by Joao Havelange of Brazil, whilst the secretary general is Joseph Blatter of Switzerland.

FINA was headed by Robert Helmick of the US and its secretary-general was Allan Harvey of Canada. FIG is led by Yuri Titov of the USSR and Max Bangerter of Switzerland. FISA’s heads are both from Switzerland: Thomas Keller and Denis Oswald (succeeded by Keller in 1989). Volleyball is led by Ruben Acosta of Mexico and Chedly Zouiten of Tunisia. Table tennis is led by Ichiro Ogimura of Japan and Tony Brooks of Great Britain. Shooting is led by Olegario Vazquez Rana of Mexico and Horst Schreiber of the FRG. Boxing is led by Anwar Chowdhry of Pakistan and Karl-Heinz Wehr of the GDR.

SLOOC had to send representatives to the IF congresses and championships to present reports and to consult with them. They were the ones who worked with the SLOOC Sports Department to present the best competition to the world. SLOOC was, in return, frequently visited by IF officials for consultations, advice and inspections. Chang Ju-ho and Moon Dong-hoo of SLOOC did an excellent job in working with the IFs.

The domestic policy of using Korean-made equipment sometimes led to conflicts with the sponsorship policies of the IFs. It took some time to reach a satisfactory agreement. The use of domestic-made tennis balls and baseballs was the most difficult problem to resolve with the ITF and the IBA. Initially, in the absence of bilateral relations with some socialist countries, those IF officials helped to serve as bridges between Seoul


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and those countries in addition to their duties as IFs. Korean federations, working closely with IFs, not only organised splendid competitions but also laid the groundwork for the future development of sports in Korea. Equestrian events, gymnastics, cycling, the modern pentathlon, handball, table tennis and soccer are good examples of this.

An NOC is an organisation which is responsible for implementing the Olympic Movement in its own territory. There are 167 NOCs. The Marshall Islands and a few other Pacific island countries tried to gain recognition from the IOC at the last minute to participate in the Seoul Games, but the two entry deadlines had already passed and the time was too short. Their efforts to join the Games were in vain; the IOC makes these decisions at least two years before the Games. For Barcelona, the decisions would be made in 1990. I received numerous calls from US friends in the Marshall Islands. SLOOC had no authority to permit entry to the Games.

The purpose of NOC cooperation for Seoul was:1. To bring about maximum participation of the NOCs – preferably all of

the NOCs – in the Seoul Olympics.2. To provide NOCs with comfortable and safe conditions for their

participation.3. To lay the groundwork for further reinforcement of the Olympic

Movement throughout the world, and for Korea’s diplomatic efforts throughout the world, especially in Eastern Europe and China.

These efforts were especially important since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics had been boycotted by Soviet bloc nations in the second major consecutive disruption to the Games. Seoul’s preparations officially started after the Los Angeles Games. Boycott threats against the Seoul Olympics started with the Baden-Baden Congress, and the calls for a change of site soon followed. North Korea started its campaign among its socialist friends,


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intensifying calls for a change of site or boycotts for political and security reasons. Later, North Korea sought to co-host the Games. North Korea exploited in full the fact that Korea had no relations with these countries.

Obstacles had to be overcome.Ensuring maximum participation of all NOCs (including that of North

Korea), providing all NOCs with the most comfortable conditions and services possible, and guaranteeing security in cooperation with the IOC, IFs and NOCs were very important tasks.

President Roh Tae-woo led a delegation in 1984 to the IOC EB-IF meeting in Lausanne to block these manoeuvres, and again to the 90th anniversary of the IOC at the Sorbonne. His first official report was presented to the IOC at its Los Angeles Session. President Roh led a NOC delegation to the ANOC Assembly in Mexico City in November 1984 and was responsible for the ‘Mexico Declaration’ adopted by ANOC members in support of the Seoul Olympics. Although the declaration had no binding effect, it created both moral and physical pressure. It was followed by the 89th IOC Extraordinary Session in Lausanne to discuss the aftermath of the Los Angeles boycott and possible sanctions. Calls for moving the Olympics from Seoul had almost died down, but still another effort proved necessary. Mario Vazquez Rana consulted with Samaranch and held an ANOC Assembly in April 1986 before the Asian Games.

For Asians, the 1986 Asian Games were a preliminary exercise. For the socialist bloc, they provided a good excuse to come to Seoul, see the preparations and meet Korean sports leaders. Some socialist NOC leaders who visited Lotte Department Store thought it was a propaganda display.

They were impressed only after visiting Seoul’s Namdaemun Market, where they witnessed the abundance of goods available in South Korea. They saw that South Korea was both serious about its role as host of the 1988 Olympics and ready. For SLOOC, this event was the first opportunity to test its ability to handle accreditation, accommodations, conferences,


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security and transportation. The ANOC Assembly supported the Games, though some delegates raised the issue of safety.

From time to time, SLOOC sent delegations to meet with and present reports to the AENOC, ANOC, ANOCA, PASO and OCA.

When Thomas Keller visited President Chun Doo-hwan as GAISF president, he made two recommendations based on his past experiences. He said that the tendency to build artistic facilities to build the reputation of artists must be discouraged in favour of better sporting facilities, and that the tendency to go abroad for training should be reconsidered. In his view, training was best done at home by inviting teachers from abroad for larger groups.

SLOOC presented reports at 13 regional and general assembly meetings of NOCs – in Rome, Bahrain, Addis Ababa, Seoul, Nicosia, Nairobi, Indianapolis, Sofia, Lagos, Malta and Mexico City.

In 1987 and 1988 alone 321 NOC delegates from 103 different missions came to Seoul and visited Olympic Park, the Seoul Sports Complex and major Olympic facilities. They wanted to discuss accommodations, protocols, accreditation and transportation.

These 321 NOCs included three IOC members, 16 NOC presidents, 44 chefs de mission, 24 NOC secretaries-general, 12 NOC vice presidents, 22 deputy chefs de mission, 99 NOC members and 101 others from a variety of categories.

The most frequent visitors were from the USSR and the US, which each sent six missions. Also sending missions were the GDR and Canada with five; Belgium with four; Italy, Japan, Hungary, Great Britain and Poland with three each; and Austria, Sweden, Fiji, Yugoslavia, West Germany, New Zealand, Israel, Ireland, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Norway, Saudi Arabia, France, Puerto Rico, Czechoslovakia and Greece with two each.

In view of the special relations among some NOCs, special consideration was given to avoiding any embarrassment during the Seoul Games,


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although at the Closing Ceremony there was a beautiful scene of everyone mingling together, including Israeli and Arab athletes.

The issue of political asylum was always a threat. International law and practice had to be observed. Our policy was not to allow political asylum, but the NOCs wanted our written guarantee. We could not outline our positions openly, other than to say that we would handle the issue on a case-by-case basis according to international law.

Sensitive issues had to be handled with care.For example, we had to make sure that Iran and Iraq neither marched

together nor were housed together. The flag of Taiwan’s NOC was constantly being watched by China. It was agreed that Taiwan’s NOC flag would be used, but each time Korean tourist agencies or other organisations used Taiwan’s national flag, the Chinese protested and we were asked to correct these mistakes. My colleague Zhenliang He, who knew of SLOOC’s efforts, tried to show understanding towards innocent mistakes, as long as they were corrected.

SLOOC favoured Olympic rules, but the Foreign Ministry and other organisations were most familiar with past practice, and they followed it.

We had to be careful about South Africa, whose NOC had been expelled many years ago because of the country’s policy of apartheid. No accreditation was given to any visitor from South Africa. We had to help Barcelona and other host cities and bidding cities. The Libyan delegation did not arrive on time, and only an advance party participated in the Opening Ceremony.

The Seoul Olympics were in a special position. Some Socialist countries had no relationship of any kind with South Korea. During the Olympics, Olympic accreditation holders were allowed multiple entries without a visa, but non-Olympic Family members were a problem. Olympic attachés could help athletes and officials, but visitors also had to be protected. When I was in the Soviet Union for the third time in June 1988, the vice foreign


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minister phoned Gavrilin to say that the Soviets wanted to open a temporary consular office in Seoul and that this would soon be negotiated through the USSR’s embassy in Tokyo or through Finland. The office would consist of consular officers, clerks and drivers for a total of six people. I discussed the matter with foreign minister Choi Gwang-soo upon my return. Our job was to open the door and let the official channels do the job. It was, of course, only for the Olympic period and through Olympic relations, but I knew that this would eventually grow into a bilateral relationship. Non-Olympic Family members had to gain the approval of the Justice Ministry, but that procedure was later simplified. Mission chiefs abroad and immigration officers could issue visas on the spot. The GDR also wanted to have Olympic attaché Bachmann bring one trade representative to serve as an officer with consular authority. Six socialist countries eventually established consular functions in Seoul: the GDR, the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary.

One important example of NOC cooperation was support for African athletes with a Korean Air charter flight at SLOOC expense. This cost US$1.5 million. Korean Air was going to charter a plane from Luxembourg, and I called KAL president Cho Choong-kun to ask him to use our flag carrier to transport the African athletes. Cho agreed, and eventually Korean Air flew both ways. I made the arrangements with Lamine Ba, secretary general of SCSA, in March 1988 in my office. Los Angeles did the same thing. Upon Ba’s request, the flight picked up 365 athletes and officials at three stops (Algiers, Abidjan and Nairobi) going each way. The return flight was on 3 October for three destinations. We did not want the flights to be completely free because of possible negative public opinion, so we asked Lamine Ba to pay US$500 per head for the round trip. (SLOOC had been criticised for giving free haircuts and beauty salon services during the Asian Games.) Lamine Ba gladly agreed to my proposal.

We had a total of 137 Olympic attachés. Sixty-five were Koreans living


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in South Korea whilst 42 were foreigners living in South Korea; four Koreans and 26 foreigners came from overseas. Some NOCs wanted two attachés, but SLOOC adhered to precedent and the Olympic Charter and allowed only one. If we had allowed any NOC more than one, we would have been pressed every day with similar requests. If we did anything for one NOC, the other NOCs would immediately find out and press us for equal treatment. Attachés are liaisons between SLOOC and their delegations. We conducted many orientation sessions. I once received a report stating that accreditation would be issued to attachés after the arrival of the delegations. If that happened, they could not even go to the airport terminal to meet their NOCs. I immediately instructed the Accreditation Department to issue accreditation at an early enough time for the attachés. Car stickers were issued. Drivers for the attachés also needed accreditation. The Olympic Charter has rules on Olympic Family members, but peripheral issues have always been a problem. The NOCs had to bring VIPs as well as their sponsors and supporters. They needed admission tickets, accreditation and rooms. I sympathised with some of the NOCs.

There were fifteen republics in the Soviet Union, each with its own Sports Minister. Attachés from abroad had to be housed. They were accommodated in family apartments but were allowed to stay in the Athletes’ Village if they were on the family list. Attachés for the USSR, Poland and Bulgaria arrived early, and their accommodations were arranged.

The Hankook Ilbo Mass Media Group established the ‘Paeksang’ Crown – named after a late IOC member and the group’s owner, Chang Key-young – and awarded it to GDR athlete Kristin Otto. Miss Otto had already gone home, and I had to arrange with IOC member Gunther Heinze to have Olympic attaché Bachmann stay one more day.

We had to avoid any possible dispute concerning accommodations or parades at the Opening Ceremony and various other ceremonies involving


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different countries such as Iran and Iraq; Morocco and Algeria; Taiwan and China; India and Pakistan; Guatemala and Belize; Greece, Turkey and Cyprus; Turkey and Bulgaria; Israel and the Arab countries; Mali, Burkina Faso and Togo; Portugal and Spain; Libya and the US; Great Britain, France and Israel; Egypt and Morocco; Chad and Jordan; Great Britain and Argentina; Chile and the socialist countries; and the GDR and FRG.

Unrecognised NOCs also demanded that SLOOC award them privileges as NOCs. In consultation with the IOC, SLOOC declined to allow any privileges to unrecognised NOCs. We had to help COOB 92 (Barcelona’s Olympic Organising Committee), because for them the Seoul Games were a place to learn. Jose Miguel Abad, Josep Roca, Armand Calvo, Pere Manuel and Pascual Maragall paid six visits with a total of 123 people. SLOOC trained 5,000 interpreters in English, French, German, Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Arabic and Japanese. It had to provide professional translators for conferences.

The electronic scoreboard showed maps and some information about each country as the NOC parade entered the stadium at the Opening Ceremony. The capital of Israel, according to the dictionary, was Jerusalem. The Arabs said that it was Tel Aviv, and they strongly protested the point at a meeting at the Hotel Lotte on 22 September. At the suggestion of Sheikh Fahad, a personal apology was made by Park Seh-jik, who said SLOOC’s error was unintended and caused by following the dictionary. The boycott threat was defused.

There were 60 chartered flights, with a total of 34,400 passengers coming in and out. Those using Gimpo International Airport included 26,108 Olympic Family members, 1,127 semi-Olympic Family members and 3,372 people in other categories. Those coming through Seoul Airport included 1,200 Olympic Family members, 200 semi-Olympic Family members and 300 people in other categories. Busan’s Gimhae Airport handled 400 people, whilst the Port of Busan saw 20 entrants. The Port of Incheon was


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the entry point for 600 Olympic Family members and 150 others.

At my suggestion, Juan Antonio Samaranch (centre) meets with the leaders of three political parties during a visit to Seoul ahead of the Olympics: Kim Dae-jung (second from right), Kim Jong-pil (third from right),

Kim Young-sam (third from left), and Yoon Giel-joong (second from left). SLOOC president Park Seh-jik is on the far left (1988)

Chapter 4

Preparations for a New Leap Forward

Chapter 4 Preparations for a New Leap Forward

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An All-National Olympic Games

Article 33 of the Olympic Charter (on choice of the city) stipulates that the organisation of the Olympic Games shall be entrusted by the IOC to the NOC of the country where the host city is located. This NOC may, and if it does not possess legal personality shall, designate the duties with which it has been entrusted to an Organising Committee formed for this purpose, and this Organising Committee shall thereafter communicate directly with the IOC.

The joint and several financial responsibilities of the NOC and the host city, as defined in Rule 4 of the Charter, remain unaffected.

Article 35 stipulates that the OCOG must possess a legal personality: ‘The OCOG shall be the executive body for the organisation of the Olympic Games, as specified in Rule 33, and shall be responsible for all the physical problems of organisation. It shall function by virtue of the powers which shall have been delegated to it within prescribed limits, and it may not usurp the powers and responsibilities of the IOC. The IOC member or members in the host country and the President and/or secretary general of the NOC must be included on its Executive Board or Management Committee. The OCOG shall enter into liquidation six months following the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games. . . . During this period it must settle all outstanding questions and disputes concerning the Olympic Games to the satisfaction of the IOC. As soon as the OCOG concludes its activities, the NOC shall, without prejudice to Rule 4, take over any rights and obligations entered into by the OCOG.’

After the Games of the 24th Olympiad were awarded to Seoul, the planning office of the city of Seoul organised a nine-member planning group which led to the organisation of SLOOC on 2 November 1981. This group nominated Kim Yong-sik as president and Lee Won-kyung as secretary general. The Executive Committee and General Meeting were


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decision-making bodies which entrusted day-to-day work to the Secretariat.Each instalment of the Games has its own characteristics.Earlier Games were staged at a smaller scale, sometimes giving the

appearance of more of an exhibition or festival. These earlier Games were completely or at least for the most part organised by sports groups and oriented towards sports enthusiasts. Some Games were local events and others took on a more national character. Some Games included a mixture of sports and government people. In recent years, due to the expanded size and magnanimity of the Games as well as to the complexity of the requirements involving security, airport, government-owned facilities, police, customs and immigration, the nature of the OCOG has become more and more government-oriented or mixed.

The Moscow Games were a total government event. The Los Angeles Games, on the other hand, were completely civilian in that the government was not heavily involved at any level. The Montreal Games were local in that they were an event staged by the city of Montreal rather than the country of Canada.

In Seoul, the Games were nationally oriented. The Seoul Games were government-directed, but the event required the participation of sports, civil society, business and every other segment of society. A government support committee composed of Cabinet members and sub-committees consisting of vice ministers from various fields solved problems and supported the efforts of the Organising Committee. It was a total effort and required total dedication. Of course, sports were the foundation, but Korea’s sports community did not initiate the bidding for the Games. That effort was spearheaded by the government, which supported and led all operations.


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Organisation of the SLOOC

In December 1986 – at a time when Seoul had successfully hosted the Asian Games and SLOOC had really started to prepare for the Olympics using what was learned from the Asian Games experience – SLOOC had a total of 760 personnel. Afterwards, its ranks started to swell, increasing to 878 in August 1987 and 1,241 in late September 1987, about one year before the Games. As of 24 August 1988, SLOOC had 1,218 personnel.

The presidents and vice-presidents of SLOOC, the Minister of Sports and the presidents and secretaries-general of the KOC changed several times. This raised the concerns of the IOC President, who made sure that the professional line of coordination between SLOOC and the IOC as well as ties between SLOOC and international sports organisations stayed solid. Before SLOOC president Roh Tae-woo took over the chairmanship of the ruling DJP party, he told me that he had recommended to President Chun that everything would be OK as long as he remained the head of the SLOOC. ‘But in case I have to leave, make sure that Kim Un-yong is put in charge of international affairs,’ Roh said. ‘In my mind, he is the only one who knows what’s going on. He is the one who can responsibly solve all problems on behalf of the national interest, and he can be trusted.’ Roh stressed that Chun should remember his recommendation. It was truly gratifying to learn of the trust he placed in me.

As SLOOC needed the assistance of all nations and many people from all walks of life, it had to solicit help by organising special professional committees from various fields. The Olympics involve many reports and publications. The committees responsible for this work were the editing special, uniform design, technical special, facilities special, torch stand, food special, transportation, cultural and arts, ceremonial, medical special and official film committees.

Planning was very important. In January 1987, the basic plan for


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Olympics preparations was established, although general plans established by the Ministry of Sports had been in use since 1982. All preparations were organised by function and site from the beginning, with more emphasis placed on sites as the Games drew nearer. In the beginning all work was delineated by function first and by site secondarily. This centralised concept evolved naturally into a decentralised process that focused on sites as the Games approached.

SLOOC tended to be bureaucratic. As the Games are great festivals of mankind involving all aspects of life, I was not disturbed by this bureaucratic tendency, but I always thought that SLOOC should not be limited by sheer bureaucracy.

I always felt and emphasised that SLOOC should be wide-ranging and include bureaucrats, representatives of the military and police, intelligence agents, sportsmen, press and broadcasters, diplomats and even businesspeople.

Sports organisations such as the Korea Amateur Sports Association and ex-sports leaders who had devoted their whole lives to sports development complained frequently. For example, whilst trying to attend a meeting of the Games Operations Consultative Committee, the former KOC president and sports leaders – all members of the committee – were stopped at SLOOC headquarters as they tried to enter. Min Kwan-shik and Shin Do-hwan, both former KASA presidents, protested about SLOOC being placed under such tight military security. Of course, SLOOC had security problems, but this was a result of too much bureaucracy. Immediately, passes and stickers for cars were issued and the mistakes were corrected.

First formulated in November 1983 and revised in December 1984, the project plan was finalised in February 1987. Projects were categorised by field and classified into direct and indirect projects. The plan also outlined which projects should be undertaken through private investment and which ones should be financed with public funds. Also included were


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time schedules, costs and budgets. For example, the Misari Regatta Canoe Course was the responsibility of SLOOC with the help of Gyeonggi-do province. The yachting course in Busan was put in the hands of Daewoo. The Seoul Sports Park, already under construction, was the responsibility of the city of Seoul, but more had to be built. The IBC was the responsibility of KBS, whilst the Olympic Park was under SLOOC responsibility. These responsibilities and details had to be defined before the project could be implemented.

Resource management plans also had to be formulated by site. An individual project plan and standard management plan were gradually developed. Detailed operational plans were established for individual functions. These plans covered competitions, facilities, transportation, entry and exit, press, broadcasting, protocols and technical and medical matters. The last plan was developed for elements including manpower, competition sports equipment, material resources, space and budget.

The management systems for the sports department and ceremonial headquarters entered effect between 1 May and 1 June 1988.

During the Asian Games, each venue commissioner needed the approval of the SLOOC secretary general for any expense above 1 million won.

Once the Olympics began, commissioners would not even be able to see me or the SLOOC president; how could they come to us to get approval for every item? They had to be trained well and delegated the authority to decide on the spot whilst they were actually at the venue. At the Asian Games they had been unable to spend funds when they needed to. The final announcement after the Asian Games showed that the SAGOC was well under budget. But in actuality this was not because they had actually saved money, but because they had no authority to spend the budgeted funds. The situation drew many complaints from the sports federations that had to stage competitions.

Manpower and equipment were deployed at each venue according to


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the management plan for venue operations. Operational personnel had to be familiar with their functions at the venues in terms of disposition of manpower, resources and equipment/facilities. Yet excessively early deployment to the venues had to be avoided in favour of implementation on a step-by-step basis. Equipment had to be deployed in conjunction with the deployment of manpower, with expenses saved as available space was taken over gradually. Resources and manpower were to be deployed at 20 competition headquarters, 4 local football preliminaries headquarters and 12 ceremonial areas in addition to one support group.

At the later stages, Arthur Takac was invited in as consultant for the Games’ management. He advised that the Games’ management should be based on strong central command with swift communications up and down to the field. The Games Division recommended a draft plan, but it took several months because the secretary general – who did not have much of a background in sports and held no responsibilities except in finance and administration – wanted to be its president, even though it would have been normal for the vice president for Games Operations to take the job. Cho Sang-ho, the vice president in charge of Games operations, was already Minister of Sports, and the job had been concurrently taken over by me, since it was too late to bring in an outsider. It took some time for Park to make a decision, and I finally suggested an idea to him: make me president of the Games operations, but have the secretary general serve as a substitute in case I was unavailable.

Full-Scale Efforts to Acquire Manpower and Facilities

Securing and training 49,712 operational personnel was key to the success of the Games. It was important to acquire qualified personnel, to train them to cope with their jobs and developing situations, and to keep them well


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fed and paid. Obviously, finding people of the calibre that SLOOC needed meant that SLOOC had to offer these people some sort of commitment in terms of what would happen after the Games. Even after the government passed a decree and formed a special committee under the Prime Minister to guarantee and secure jobs after the Games for SLOOC personnel with the full blessing of Roh Tae-woo, their employment became a big issue; there was even a sit-in strike at one point. They were dedicated and qualified people, but their jobs were temporary, and with labour disputes and Korea’s ongoing democratisation process, firms and organisations were reluctant to take them on. About 400 SLOOC personnel were absorbed by government corporations and private firms, which made sense – they were really qualified and experienced people. A total of 27,211 personnel participated as volunteers.

The Games of today cannot be organised without the dedicated contributions of thousands of volunteers. Los Angeles was a good example of the spirit of volunteerism: 50,000 volunteers were praised and appreciated for their contributions to making the 1984 Summer Games a success. Calgary was the same. At the first anniversary of the 24th Olympiad in Seoul, IOC President Samaranch presented IOC pins to volunteers. Volunteers were sought publicly in October 1985, and a total of 116,294 (48,243 men and 67,051 women) applied. According to estimates from various divisions, 27,221 were actually appointed as volunteers. They included 14,607 independent Korean volunteers, 11,929 from organisations, 354 foreigners and 333 Korean residents abroad.

It was very important for each volunteer to be provided with general orientation and training by assigned function, followed by on-the-job training. We could find excellent people, but without the proper education and experience they would not be able to do their best.

SLOOC tried to apply the experience of the Asian Games to the Seoul Olympics. Its staff and volunteers were to do all kinds of jobs related to


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service, translation and interpretation, administration office duties, technical matters, competitions, medical issues, controls, entry and exit, security assistance, art and religion. Simply feeding organisational personnel was a monumental task. A total of 2,043,147 meals had to be provided, including 544,259 fast food meals and 1,498,889 meals at the dining hall and individual sites. Competition venues accounted for 648,316 meals, whilst ceremonial sites accounted for 1,273,436 and support associations consumed 131,499, for a total cost of 4 billion won.

Support personnel also were dispatched by various sports organisations, government organisations and corporations. Those participating in the Seoul Olympics as operational personnel numbered 18,281. These included 3,612 from sports federations, 4,026 from the government, 6,640 from the military, 542 from the field of medicine, 2,383 from corporations and 1,078 from other areas. They were experienced people sent by various organisations. SLOOC employed 2,775 short-term contract personnel.

Three rounds of training at the Gymnastics Hall for 10,000 people took a great deal of effort. First, we had to select dates that would be convenient for the maximum number of people; then we had to think about the education programme, supplying food and drinks and transporting everyone by shuttle bus.

Accomplishing all of this would be no easy task, as we learned during the Asian Games when some people became ill with food poisoning after eating our packed lunches. I knew Korea’s packed lunch industry was not prepared in terms of experience, size, capital or varieties of food. Two weeks before the Asian Games I issued two warnings; each time I received reports stating that everything was under control – yet the food poisoning happened anyway. The nation’s entire packed lunch industry had to list the date and hour of manufacturing, change menus and generally place everything under stricter controls. During the Seoul Games in 1988, the Security Control Headquarters and Ministry of Health inspected all food


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and drinks, with 360 personnel allocated for this purpose.SLOOC still regrets it was unable to provide 90,000 applicants with the

opportunity to be volunteers at the Olympics.Twice I lectured Olympic hostesses, reminding them that they were the

‘face of Korea’ whilst they worked for IOC members, IFs, NOCs and VIPs. I told them about the history of the Olympic Movement and about what IOC members do and how the hostesses could best help them. Everything we taught the thousands of volunteers had to be carried out thoroughly and quickly. Once the Games started they had to function on their own, without approval or assistance from the top leadership of the Games.

Facilities

At the Olympic Congress at Baden-Baden, I saw the films of both Nagoya and Seoul. It was my impression that Nagoya had only sketches and plans, without many facilities established. Although Seoul was already constructing its main stadium, it could offer few existing facilities capable of accommodating international championships. Hyochang Stadium and Jangchung Gymnasium were available, but apart from Taereung Shooting Range nothing was really first class.

Once the Games were awarded to the city of Seoul, it was estimated that 106 facilities and sites would be needed. Seoul would secure 72 facilities and sites, and the city started to build and reinforce 22 competition arenas and sites as well as 50 training sites. In construction of any Olympic Games site, budget is the first consideration – but then comes the struggle of budgetary or sports considerations against artistic considerations and the focus on creating something aesthetically pleasing. Post-Olympics utilisation also had to be considered. Due to a lack of experience in working with international sports federations, some of those involved


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investigated past records and established new contacts because facilities and sites had to conform to the rules of the respective international sports federations. Although the IFs had not been pressing the OCOG to realise their dreams since Baden-Baden, people in Seoul still remembered the bad stories about the cycling velodrome and rowing regatta course in Montreal and the shooting range in Los Angeles, which had almost resulted in the shooting competition being cancelled. Seoul wanted to build the world’s best facilities. New construction efforts by the city, OCOG and corporate investors were combined in order to provide the best.

Existing facilities were also bolstered. School facilities were used but turned out later to be a security risk due to student demonstrations. Before the Asian Games we had considered not using school facilities, but we went ahead with it because school authorities did not want to lose the opportunities our use provided and we did not have any available replacement facilities. Construction of new facilities and gyms was easy, but infrastructure had to be installed and in good working order. The list of things that had to be fully operational was long – including electronic scoreboards and electronic result systems, offices for officials and IFs, medical clinics, parking lots, lounges, press and broadcasting centres, a photo press room, a situation room, lounges for athletes and officials, press lounges, referee lounges, storage, communication rooms and security control rooms. In my visits I found that some of the new facilities were inadequate. For example, the VIP stand and VIP lounges were too small for 16 days of Olympics, although they would be adequate for post-Games contests.

I recommended that we pattern some of our efforts on what had been done in LA, using temporary but workable space and buildings. Instead of having one facility per sport, we could build a sports complex similar to the one in London – one centre capable of accommodating several sports, which would have been helpful after the Games. We did not do that, and I regret that decision deeply. One advantage of the Seoul Games


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was that most facilities were centred around Seoul, within one hour’s reach. We recognised that in LA, a lot of time had been needed for travel between sites and villages. We received much advice from the international federations, especially those for gymnastics, yachting, rowing, tennis and equestrian events, but we also had to correct many problems. The direction of the tennis court, for example, caused sunshade problems. The Gymnastics Hall, supposedly the best, had ceiling leakage, which invited press criticism, and the silicon roofing had to be shaded for broadcasting. Lighting for all gyms had to be raised to 1200 lux after the Asian Games. The acoustics of the Main Stadium had to be refurbished. The result system by Electro Impex in the Gymnastics Hall had to be interfaced with Swiss timing at the last minute. We had to replace the electronic scoreboard at the Jamsil Gymnasium and Jangchung Gymnasium. Parking lots were also a constant source of issues. We quickly discovered that when we pointed out a problem, we always received the bureaucratic answer that ‘everything is OK’, only to find out later that everything was not OK and that something had to be done to remedy the problem. These wrinkles were ironed out during the Asian Games, Pre-Games, IOC and IF visits and through rehearsals.

The demands of the Olympic Family always were a priority.To serve as Olympic Villages near Olympic Park, 122 buildings were

built with 5,540 apartment units. Athlete villages and press villages provided proper living conditions, but the athlete villages had to be supplemented with such mundane items as extra hangers, drawers and utility boxes. Complaints were lodged several times during the initial days of the Games about long, slow-moving meal lines and a lack of variety in the available foods. We aimed for satisfaction by increasing the number of stands, which shortened the lines. For the professional complainers, it was too late to do anything more – the Games had to go on. The villages were built on the condition that they would be used as apartments for Seoul


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citizens later. Apartment buyers paid for the apartments in advance, with a premium which was contributed to SLOOC. This was a good example of government policy facilitating the Olympics. Barcelona is building villages but cannot sell them to citizens at a premium because of legal restrictions.

Behind KBS, the International Broadcasting Centre was opened in the presence of IOC President Samaranch. It was designed to meet the developing needs of 21st century broadcasting. With two basement floors, the nine-story building has a total space measuring 11,737 pyeong (34,800 square meters). It provided more than 10,000 broadcasters with telephone service, as well as support for broadcasting, audio systems, video, telex and colour photo transmissions.

The Main Press Centre was opened at the KOEX Building near the Seoul Sports Complex, with a floor space measuring 8,550 pyeong for 9,000 press representatives from 122 countries. It was equipped with 100 WINs, 40 multi-screens, 254 cable TVs, 94 telexes, 13 fax machines, 40 PIXs and 96 collect-call telephones. The men and women working at the press and broadcasting centres served the Olympic Movement by reporting to the world on what was happening in the Seoul Games, as well as the political, economic, cultural and social life of Korea.


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Competition Venues and Training Sites

Sport VenueTraining Sites

Total A B C

Archery 1 1 1

Athletics 3 8 8

Basketball 1 5 5

Boxing 1 2 2

Canoeing (1) 1 1

Cycling 2 2 2

Equestrian sports 2 2 2

Fencing 1 1 1

Football 5 (1) 11 11

Gymnastics 1 13 13

Handball 1 (1) 3 3

Hockey 1 1 1

Judo 1 2 2

Modern pentathlon 1 (4) 2 (3) 2 3

Rowing 1 (1) 1

Shooting 1 1 1

Swimming 2 8 8

Table tennis 1 3 3

Tennis 1 1 1

Volleyball 2 (1) 5 5

Weightlifting 1 1 1

Wrestling 1 1 1

Yachting 1 1 1

Baseball 1 2 2

Taekwondo (1) 1 1

Badminton (1) 1 1

Bowling 1 1 1

Total 34 80 72 8 4

A: Exclusive use by individual sport B: Used as a competition venueC: Used together with other sports


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Competition Venues

Venue Owner Capacity

Seoul Sports

Complex

Olympic Stadium Seoul City 70,000

Jamsil Gymnasium Seoul City 20,000

Jamsil Indoor Swimming Pool Seoul City 5,000

Jamsil Students’ Gymnasium Seoul City 8,000

Jamsil Baseball Stadium Seoul City 30,000

Olympic Park

Velodrome SLOOC 6,000

Gymnastics Hall SLOOC 15,000

Fencing Gymnasium SLOOC 7,000

Weightlifting Gymnasium SLOOC 4,000

Indoor Swimming Pool SLOOC 10,000

Tennis Courts SLOOC 15,000

Cross Country Course

Hanyang University Gymnasium Hanyang Univ. 8,000

Seoul Equestrian Park Korea Racing Authority 30,000

Wondang Ranch Korea Racing Authority

Saemaul Sports Hall KBS 4,100

Jangchung Gymnasium Seoul City 7,000

Han River Regatta Course SLOOC 25,000

Seoul National University Gymnasium Seoul National Univ. 5,000

Sangmu Gymnasium Army 5,000

Suwon Gymnasium Gyeonggi-do 5,500

Seongnam Gymnasium Gyeonggi-do 25,000

Taereung International Shooting Range Korea Shooting Federation 2,500

Hwarang Archery Field Korea Military Academy 1,500

Provincial Stadiums

Busan Stadium Busan City 30,000

Dongdaemun Stadium Seoul City 35,000

Daejeon Stadium Daejeon City 30,000

Gwangju Stadium Gwangju City 30,000

Daegu Stadium Daegu City 30,000

Busan Yachting Centre Busan City

While visiting the Soviet Union in 1987 to convince the country to take part in the Seoul Olympics, I became the first sports leader invited for lunch at the official residence of Russian

Orthodox Deputy Patriarch Alexy (1987)

Chapter 5

Soviet Participation

Chapter 5 Soviet Participation

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Boycott Threat

The Soviet Union and socialist bloc nations’ participation in the Seoul Olympics had loomed as a big question since Baden-Baden.

The meeting at Baden-Baden had taken place immediately after the Moscow Olympics, which had been boycotted by US President Jimmy Carter. The Soviet bloc strongly opposed Seoul becoming the host city. This opposition continued even after the Games were awarded to Seoul by the IOC. The Soviet bloc had no diplomatic, economic, cultural or any other kind of bilateral relationship with Korea. All relations at that time were multinational rather than bilateral.

But even the socialist bloc’s multinationally based participation in world championships or international conferences was occasionally marred by North Korean protest. North Korea constantly interfered with or protested against Seoul’s international programmes. Socialist bloc nations called for a change in site or cancellation of the Games. They threatened boycotts. The situation worsened further with the Soviet boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

I went to Poznan to participate in the Junior World Fencing Championships in April 1976 as vice president of the KASA and KOC. We were hindered by North Korean Embassy personnel from Warsaw for the entire week. I was constantly in touch with my colleagues in the IFs at various international gatherings. They were quite open and informal. None of the friends I spoke to ever committed to participating in the Seoul Olympics; they would only say, ‘We’ll see’ or ‘I hope the Kremlin decides to allow it’.

For them, the Kremlin was everything. It could say yes or no at the last minute. Just as slightly positive signs were starting to surface, Korean Air Flight 007 was shot down by the Soviets, which brought the whole process to a halt. It was impossible to bring up the issue of Soviet participation, and


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we had to wait for the uproar and sentiments in Korea to calm down.Nobody understood why it had happened. Was it a mistake? Or were

the Soviets the warmongers they were depicted to be in the Western press? The Olympic organisers had a different point of view from politicians; they waited. Already there had been serious calls for a change of site in May and June 1984 from Nelson Paillou of France and Franco Carraro in Rome, as well as many others in the US and the FRG.

It was under these circumstances that we headed to the Los Angeles Olympics. SLOOC President Roh Tae-woo handled himself very well. We were hounded with questions by the Western press. ‘Do you think that the Russians will come to Seoul?’ they asked. ‘Do you think the Korean public will forgive them?’ Contrary to the expectations of the Western press, his answer was not aggressive, but statesmanlike and very much in accord with the Olympic Movement: ‘It is a very unhappy incident, but SLOOC and the Olympic Family have the responsibility of organising the Olympics and contributing to the Olympic Movement.’ The Western media had been waiting for harsh accusations and were surprised.

We had to contact socialist bloc sports leaders in Los Angeles. Gramov was not in Los Angeles because of the boycott. The highest Soviet officials in LA were Smirnov and Constantin Andrianov as IOC members, and Valery Syssoev as president of the Cycling Federation (though he was also Vice Minister of Sports for the USSR). Horst Dassler of Adidas organised a dinner in Beverly Hills. President Roh, Dassler, Syssoev and I attended, as did Huguette Clergironnet as interpreter. No declaration was made there, but it was the first official meeting in which the Soviet Sports Ministry participated. Syssoev’s position was that after this encounter he would start to think seriously about future relations, although it was very difficult at the moment. SLOOC president Roh said that he and Korea sincerely hoped that the Soviets would participate in the Seoul Olympics in accordance with the ideals in the Olympic Charter. He promised that the Seoul organisers would


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do their best to accommodate the Soviets and all delegations. Syssoev is a very serious man; he promised that he would talk to Gramov right away and that he would keep in close contact in order to accomplish what the Olympic Family wanted.

In June 1985, Roh was already the chairman of the Democratic Justice Party, but he was still heading SLOOC. We were in Berlin to attend the IOC General Session and present our report on the preparations. There had already been an indication from the GDR that it was seriously considering participating. German sports officials were very cooperative. GDR NOC president Manfred Ewald – who later played a key role in spearheading the move for participation and pressing the Soviets – organised a small reception for Roh and me, then vice president of SLOOC. Ewald had all his vice-presidents there with him. He could not host a big reception due to his heavy IOC Session schedule, but he wanted to do something for Roh. We had a very positive discussion. He understood the problems between North and South Korea, although they were somewhat different from the problems facing the two halves of Germany. Yet he clearly stated that he would keep sports separate from politics and that the problems between North and South were a matter for the two Koreas. It was already a promising sign. Later Ewald would not only closely cooperate with Samaranch on the inter-Korean sports talks but also play a key role in the eventual commitment by all Eastern Bloc nations to participate in the Seoul Games.

All indications were that it was up to the Kremlin. Détente between the US and USSR was important. We could not just wait around, however – we had jobs to do. The IOC was not sitting idly by. Samaranch, who had faced two boycotts in Moscow and Los Angeles, was busy. The Los Angeles boycott had materialised on 8 May 1984. I had met him at the Lausanne Palace Hotel just before the IOC-IF-LAOOC meeting in the wake of the Soviets’ announcement. He looked very tired. He said that he had worked hard and that he had thought everything was going well before the boycott


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was announced. Moscow had happened before he became involved. Perhaps he thought that he could organise his own Games in Seoul to bring the Olympic Movement back on track, with all the NOCs in one place. Samaranch travelled to socialist capitals whenever there were sports conferences or events. He would meet heads of state and prime ministers as well as sports authorities. The IOC changed its charter; invitations to NOCs had been sent out by the OCOG before, but in view of the absence of diplomatic relations, the IOC would send out invitations one year before the opening of the Games and receive responses four months thereafter. The IOC would finance airfare and board for up to eight persons per NOC, plus US$8,000 cash for equipment and airfare and board and US$500 each for up to six athletes. This would not only help poor NOCs but also remove any excuse for not participating due to financial reasons. He called the inter-Korean sports talks in close consultation with the Eastern bloc, especially the Soviet Union, to discuss cross-participation by North and South Korea and possibly the relocation of several sports to North Korea.

Although the Games had been awarded to the city of Seoul in accordance with the Olympic Charter, in view of the spirit and ideals of the Olympic Movement, Samaranch went ahead with four meetings between the North and South Korean NOCs in Lausanne. I felt that SLOOC ought to do its share.

Communicating in the Darkness

We had to assure all participating NOCs, especially the Soviets and the socialist NOCs, that we would welcome them as members of the Olympic Family and ensure every safety and convenience in accordance with the Olympic Charter. This was very difficult because we did not have any political or diplomatic relations; indeed, we had no contact at all. As I


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started to negotiate the details, I quickly learned that these countries were in a special situation.

The Americans, Germans and Japanese have been in daily contact with us for the past 40 or 50 years. Many people from these countries are in Korea, and we know each other very well; there are no language issues. In contrast, the Soviets and Eastern Bloc nations have had no knowledge or understanding of us, and there is no common language. In practical terms, speaking with these countries was like communicating in the dark. I thought that we should pay a little more attention to these nations so as to make their participation comfortable.

Our efforts were very much appreciated down the road, and we established sound relationships that laid the groundwork for Korea’s northern diplomacy. I started to use the phrase ‘Olympic relations’ instead of diplomatic relations in my discussions. Our common language was sports. Sports could overcome many barriers, even if they were tainted by political pressures at times. Only through sports could we accomplish many things that otherwise would have been impossible. The Olympics were an even greater common language, which opened the door even wider. Through the efforts of the Olympic Movement and the IOC, these ‘Olympic relations’ preceded the development of international relations. Soviet participation would carry with it Eastern Bloc participation, elimination of the TV rights reduction clause, a high level of achievement by athletes, a future base for Korea’s northern diplomacy, security in Northeast Asia and reunification of Korea as well as the success of the Olympic Movement itself.

I visited Moscow from 5 to 9 June 1987 to attend the IAAF TV Commission meeting at the Sports Hotel in Moscow. I learned a lot about Moscow and the Soviet Union. My visit laid a bridge for future negotiations towards Soviet participation and provided a means of contact. I was able to learn about and prepare for the problems that would have to be solved


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to bring the Soviet delegation to Seoul. My visit with Henrika Yushkevitch provided me with ample opportunity to negotiate TV rights for the OIRT. I spent a lot time with Yushkevitch and even visited the office of the vice president of the State Television Broadcasting Committee. Yushkevitch advised me a great deal about what SLOOC should do and how I should approach the Soviet Ministry. Vice Minister Yushkevitch and Vice Minister of Sports Gavrilin took me to a restaurant called Baku on Gorky Street. Gavrilin and Yushkevitch sat beside me, taking turns pouring vodka into my glass. We drank the whole evening, but Gavrilin had to catch the midnight train to Leningrad that night. Later, I learned that they wanted to test me to see how much I could drink. Much to their surprise, I did not collapse.

The next day Yushkevitch took me to another restaurant near the Kremlin called Prague, where no liquor was served until 2 p.m. The Sports Hotel was for athletes, officials, guests, seminars and other purposes. People were blunt but very nice. I saw an opera at the Palace of Congress, where party congresses are held, and I visited Lenin Stadium to watch athletic championships. Vice Minister Gavrilin and I agreed to meet in Tokyo between the end of June and the first of July to lay the foundation for future negotiations and for the first official visit by the Soviet delegation. The first official delegation on a bilateral basis, it was to be headed by another Vice Minister of Sports, Anatoly Kolezov.

At the Tokyo meeting, I conveyed SLOOC’s message that Seoul would honour the Olympic Charter and provide every possible means of assistance to allay Soviet concerns regarding safety, organisation, functioning, the athletes’ village, the press village, the press centre and transportation. As with every Games, the Soviets’ biggest concern was the docking of their ship at Incheon. Although I knew that this request was in line with precedents in Melbourne, Tokyo, Montreal and LA, I also knew that our government would oppose the request for many reasons. At the same time, I knew it would be very difficult for the Soviets to participate without


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mooring their ship.Koreans would regard it as a spy ship, whilst the Soviets needed it for

extra officials, cultural groups, tourists, athlete recreation and food and beverage adaptation. For example, they brought in thousands of tons of mineral water. If athletes do not drink the same kind of mineral water that they are used to drinking, their high jump scores will be different. I insisted that accredited athletes and officials had to stay in the village in accordance with the Charter. The Soviets were also seeking to abide by the Charter. Whenever I brought up the Olympic Charter they became silent. We did not know what would finally happen, but even so I made the request and worked to bring Soviet cultural groups to the Olympic Games. Securing landing rights for Aeroflot was the next big issue, but I knew that a Chinese charter plane had been allowed during the Asian Games and that the only issue had to do with the application of the law. The Soviets did not want the US to meddle with Olympic security. The Seoul Games’ security was strictly in our hands, even if we were seeking international cooperation from many countries, and I assured the Soviets of this.

This meeting had been organised at the Soviet’s request and was kept secret. I took along Kim Sam-hoon, an international director detailed from the Foreign Ministry. I took him on most of my visits in Eastern Europe; I thought these travels would help him after he went back to the Foreign Ministry and went about implementing diplomatic policies toward Europe. He is a very able and promising career diplomat. He faced service rivalries many times with many of the organisations involved, but he was patient and acquitted himself well.

For better or for worse these meetings in Tokyo and Moscow were the first official bilateral contact between Soviet sports authorities and SLOOC, and they were the first indication of the Soviets’ eventual participation, along with the forthcoming visit by Soviet delegations. All contacts were to come via GAISF in Monte Carlo, where I serve as president. The Russians


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looked very blunt and tough, but I realised in my interactions that they are similar to Asians in their friendliness and warmth. They had warm hearts, and this mutual understanding and trust paved the way for close cooperation on the Olympics participation issue. The first official delegation from the Soviet NOC and Sports Ministry visited Korea from 16 July to 1 August. It was headed by Vice Minister Anatoly Kolezov, who was accompanied by Yuri Titov, the NOC secretary general and FIG president, and seven others. It included people in charge of Aeroflot and ships. They could not commit to Soviet participation, but they were preparing for and discussing this eventuality for the first time on an official basis. They toured venues and discussed all concerns as any sports people would do professionally. We exchanged ideas and decided we could work together.

Kolezov saw taekwondo in Houston during the US Sports Festival and liked it. I took the Soviets to Kukkiwon for a taekwondo demonstration. By the time we finished the Games, we had become friends; many SLOOC people learned to say a few expressions in Russian, such as spasiba or na zdorovie. This is what sports and the Olympics can do, showing how human relations are the most important thing. One of the most interesting stories I related to the visiting Russians was the history of how coffee arrived in Korea. King Gojong tasted coffee for the first time whilst he was staying at the Russian Embassy for one year after his consort Queen Min was assassinated by Japanese thugs and swordsmen in the palace. He took some of the drink with him when he moved back to the palace. All of the Cabinet ministers who tasted it liked it, which is how Korean people started to drink coffee. This was from the Russian legation, the site of which has been preserved behind Deoksugung Palace as a national monument. The Soviet delegation’s visit also provided an opportunity for our people in SLOOC and those in various fields to get to know the Russians.

Official contact had been established, but in the absence of bilateral relations, all correspondence and communications had to be done through


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my GAISF office. I had to watch the international situation, obtain help from Samaranch and keep in contact with all my friends in the Soviet sports leadership, including Gramov, Gavrilin, Kolezov, Yushkevitch, Smirnov, Titov and Syssoev. I also had to watch developments with North Korea and keep in contact with other socialist sport leaders, especially Ewald of the GDR, Slavkov of Bulgaria, Sipercu of Romania, and Tamas Ajan and Gabor Deak of Hungary. Before the Soviet contacts started, GDR delegation headed by Minister Ewald and IOC member Guenther Heinze had visited Seoul. At the time, they did not want any press reports or photographs. They did not want to visit the Sports Ministry or any other government ministries, although they were allowed to meet the Sports Minister at another location in his capacity as a sports official or SLOOC official. They only wanted to meet with the SLOOC and sports officials, visit facilities and discuss logistics relating to the GDR’s participation.

On the one hand, Ewald was a strong supporter of the socialist blocs’ participation in the Olympics – even that of the GDR on its own if necessary. On the other, he was a strong advocate of the inter-Korean sports talks. He emphasised the importance of these talks and the need for South Korea to generously offer the staging of six or even more sports in North Korea.

In contrast, most of the Soviet delegation members who visited Seoul were more concerned with logistical and technical matters. I knew that the Soviet boycott of the LA Games had been a political decision but also one partly due to safety issues. We had to make them comfortable. Kolezov and Titov emphasised the importance of the ability to dock their ship; landing rights for Aeroflot; a quiet, secluded location for the village; transportation; training venues; and extra officials. They stressed the need for an official positive response on the docking issue by October or November to guarantee the Soviets’ participation, which would be followed by a majority of the other socialist NOCs. I knew that it would be impossible to do so,


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although meetings by various ministries had to be held.Samaranch was also hard at work. He assured the Soviets that they could

resolve all issues with me with full IOC backing. On 17 September 1987 the IOC held a world-class ceremony at the IOC Headquarters of Chateau de Vidy to send all of the NOCs invitations to the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, scheduled to take place in Seoul from September to October 1988. North Korea’s NOC asked that the invitation ceremony be postponed, but the request was not justified.

All of the NOCs realised they had to respond directly to the IOC within four months (by 17 January 1988) in accordance with the IOC Charter.

In the absence of an official response to all of the pending issues with the Soviets, especially those concerning docking and Aeroflot landing rights, I had to meet Gavrilin once again in Tokyo through GAISF. The invitation ceremony in Lausanne by the IOC was preceded by a special concert by the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra.

Samaranch believes that the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement are more than mere sport events. He incorporates all-around programmes that include culture, philanthropy, academics, journalism, sculpture, music and more. He kindly recommended that my daughter Kim Hae-jung, who had just graduated from the acclaimed Juilliard School of Music, perform a piano concerto. She played Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 under the baton of Peter Maag. It was broadcast live throughout Switzerland and on European TV and radio stations and added to the Swiss Air in-flight classical music programme in August and September 1988. Samaranch presided over the ceremony. Park Seh-jik of SLOOC sat to his right, whilst I was seated to this left as Korea’s IOC member. Also present were Prince de Merode, a senior official of the IOC, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Nebiolo, Mario Vazquez Rana, Beitz, Gosper, Igaya, Gafner and Kim Chong-ha of the Korean NOC, attending on behalf of the NOCs and Federal Express, which was to deliver invitations in person. This


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was followed by a luncheon in the garden of Chateau de Vidy, hosted by Samaranch. It was a gathering of 300 people, including members of the press. There had been a suggestion in Korea to send 100 civic leaders at SLOOC expense, but the IOC recommended that we abandon that idea. Calgary had had a similar ceremony in February with only OCO88 representatives. It proved too costly and held no real meaning. In any event, the Seoul Games were on.

In December, I met Gavrilin once again. The message had been delivered to me by Yuri Titov at a GAISF meeting in Colorado Springs. He gave me all kinds of questionnaires. I took Kim Sam-hoon with me to meet him at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. I met Gavrilin twice at the Imperial Hotel on 4 and 5 December. In the absence of any major decision on the mooring of the Soviet ship in Incheon, I went to see President Chun and explain its importance in relation to Soviet participation. I mentioned the Soviet Union’s requirements and the precedents of Melbourne, Tokyo, Montreal and Los Angeles (where an agreement had been signed). I told him my reasons. He listened to what I had to say and finally granted his approval after I assured him that Korean law would be strictly observed. He started issuing instructions. There were still many coordinating efforts to be undertaken by the relevant agencies and many problems to be ironed out. But the green light had been sent.

I gave Gavrilin an unofficial go-ahead to dock the Mikhail Sholokhov, a Soviet vessel, at Incheon on the condition that the Soviets abide by all Korean laws related to port authority matters, customs, immigration, security and maritime affairs, and as long as they respected the Olympic Charter.

Aeroflot’s landing rights were a secondary concern, although routes, landing and service procedures all had to be discussed. To discuss the remaining details, a Soviet delegation would come to Seoul on 27–30 December. All communication would be between the USSR. Sports


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Committee and the GAISF President’s office in Seoul. It was agreed that telex communications would be established between the two offices and that there would be further discussions on the possibility of opening a Soviet consular office in Seoul to handle consular affairs. I was already setting up dates with OIRT in Prague for the signing of the TV rights contract, which was to take place on 23 January.

By the time of the Tokyo meeting, I had received all of the dates on which the Eastern Bloc countries would announce their participation. I knew that Hungary and the GDR would be the first to announce their participation. The GDR announcement would come on 21 December, followed by Hungary on 22 December; Bulgaria and Poland on 6 January; Yugoslavia on 7 January; Romania and Mongolia on 8 January; and finally the USSR and China on 11 January and Czechoslovakia and Vietnam on 15 January. The US and other western NOCs had begun making their announcements right after the invitation ceremony.

The USSR was to have an NOC meeting on 9–10 January. I watched Gramov’s announcement on television with Gavrilin. I reported the information to the President of Korea, Chairman Roh of the DJP and the SLOOC President. Press security had to be observed, since this would be the focus of the world press’s attention. I received the news about the Soviets’ participation in the evening, both from the IOC and by telephone. It was one of the biggest news events for the Seoul Games because of the previous two boycotts in Moscow and Los Angeles. During his November visit to Seoul, Samaranch asked for a list of those NOCs that had not announced their participation. He continued to press hard.

In any kind of international cooperation, personal contact and human relations are key elements. We were all for the Olympic Movement, the Olympic Games and sports. Mutual trust and cooperation came from the Olympic spirit; Olympic relations followed. These would go on to develop into many other areas as we agreed to exchange coaches, trainees, seminars


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and teams after the Games.We succeeded in sending Daewoo president Kim Woo-choong as

football president and KAL president Cho Choong-kun as tennis president. We succeeded in acquiring permission for Korean Air to fly over Soviet territory with the help of Gramov and Samaranch so that athletes could be transported faster and more comfortably. The Soviet Cultural Ministry, Gosconcert, the Soviet art promotion organisation, and I had a three-day ‘sandwich conference’ to sort out whether the Dong-A Ilbo would be responsible for the TASS-sponsored photo exhibition, the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and the Stars of Soviet Ballet whilst the Chosun Ilbo organised the Soviet Sports Ministry-sponsored photo exhibition and Bolshoi Chorus, which would include Korean nationals Ludmila Nam and Nelly Lee as singers. Before we could bring the Soviet cultural groups to Seoul I had many discussions with Samaranch, Soviet IOC member Vitaly Smirnov and the Soviet Sports Ministry concerning events that were to be part of the Olympic Festival during the Olympic period only.

At the last minute everything came together. A temporary consular office was opened and would later develop into a trade office with consular functions. Lotte Department Store established a Russian section. A food fair was also hosted. All of this was accomplished through Olympic relations. President Roh’s Northern Diplomacy efforts continue to progress, and many more policy developments lie ahead.

I visited the USSR three times in 1988 with my wife. My visit in June 1988 coincided with the Party Conference, which I watched on TV. Before my departure, Gramov, who had attended the whole conference with Smirnov, cancelled the Vice Minister’s conference so that he could offer me a special reception. Nicolai Lentz, an Olympic attaché who had helped me a lot during my visit, interpreted for me and went to fetch Gavrilin. Whilst we were waiting, we spoke in Russian. He told me all about Perestroika and Glasnost. With the reconstruction of the Soviet economy and society, the


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USSR could never go back to the old days, he said, and there could be no cult of personality. The political and election system was being reorganised, he explained, and the country was becoming more outward-looking, emphasising policies for youth. All of this was helping the Olympic Movement and the Seoul Games.

During a visit to Leningrad in June 1988, my wife and I were invited to the official residence of Deputy Patriarch Alexy of the Russian Orthodox Church for lunch. I heard that even Samaranch had not been offered a lunch during his visit to Leningrad and that I was the first sports leader to receive an invitation from Alexy. We were treated to a lavish lunch attended by members of the Soviet Communist Party’s central committee on religion, where Alexy delivered a positive message, declaring that the issue of a diplomatic relationship with South Korea would be resolved once the Olympics were over. He also provided two medals (nine centimetres in diameter and weighing 500 grams) to commemorate the thousandth anniversary of the Russian Orthodox Church’s establishment in 988. One of them, he said, was a gift to President Roh Tae-woo in honour of the goodwill between the Soviet Union and South Korea. I was impressed by Alexy’s clear pronunciation of the President’s name. In 1990 Alexy became the Patriarch (Alexy II) of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Although the announcements of the socialist nations’ participation had been made, we had to be absolutely sure that everything was going smoothly until they actually showed up in Seoul. The International Gymnastic Championships of the USSR, Korea and Japan were planned. Japan could not come, but we went ahead with the event in August. This is how Korea won its first-ever bronze medal in an Olympic Games. Yelena Shushunova of the USSR was outstanding.


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Northern Diplomacy

Since Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial occupation in 1945 and the Korean War (1950–53) the relations between the Soviet Union and South Korea had remained in darkness with no diplomatic relationship. After 40 years of this, the Soviet Union paved the way for a new détente by deciding to participate in the Seoul Olympics. With this, they not only helped bring the Olympic Movement back on track but also opened doors for South Korea’s northern diplomacy effort, led by President Roh Tae-woo. From their staunch opposition to Seoul hosting the Olympics, their boycott movement and calls to change the host city, they started to reconsider the question whether to participate in the Seoul Olympics, along with the possible improvement of relations between the USSR and South Korea. In July 1987 official Soviet delegates finally started to visit Seoul, and on 11 January 1988 the USSR announced its decision to participate in the Seoul Olympics to the entire world.

At that time, the Soviet policy toward South Korea was to participate in the Seoul Olympics in principle, and to learn more about South Korea whilst participating in the Olympics in Seoul. Accordingly, the Soviets also conducted a thorough assessment of post-Olympics matters by means of the Olympic events, although their focus was on participation in the Seoul Games. This involved the establishment of a consular office, minimal economic relations, permission for KAL airplanes to fly in Soviet airspace, stopovers for Soviet aircraft and ships in Korea, visits and performances by USSR cultural groups in Korea during the Olympics, visits and studies by VIPs and other officials, sports exchanges, food exhibitions, photo exhibitions and exhibitions of goods – all as part of the programme of Olympic events and activities during the Seoul Games period.

As a result, the Soviet Union transformed its policy toward South Korea in November following the Seoul Games in appreciation of Korea’s


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capability to host the Olympics, the economic and political changes in Korea, its favourable experiences with Koreans as a people, its own strategic and economic advantages, and the new atmosphere of détente. Right away the Soviets decided to work through the Communist Party central committee to pursue relationships and exchanges in all fields except politics as well as a diplomatic relationship – that is, one encompassing economics, academics, sports, science and culture. It also pursued an exchange of trade offices between the Soviet Chamber of Commerce and the Korea Trade Promotion Foundation.

On the one hand, Moscow University entered into an affiliation agreement with Yonsei University. On the other hand, the Soviet Sports Ministry adopted taekwondo, and Soviet sports coaches and instructors visited Korea. Following two visits to the USSR by Democratic Liberal Party leader Kim Young-sam, ongoing contacts ensued with Soviet president Gorbachev and other senior officials. Aeroflot and KAL each received permission to fly to the other country’s capital, and other similar positive changes continued. Within a limited consular relationship, both countries established consulate offices in each other’s capital. Through the impetus of the San Francisco summit meeting between Presidents Roh Tae-woo and Gorbachev, the two governments entered practical discussions to rapidly establish diplomatic and economic relationships.

It was through this process that a diplomatic relationship was finally established. Practical economic relations and academic and scientific cooperation are bound to follow. Korea is currently pursuing reciprocal visits by the two countries’ heads of state to each other’s capital cities. South Korea regards the USSR as a partner in the new détente and expects to develop the cooperative relationship between the two countries further.

The Soviet’s NOC delegations came to Seoul four more times, in April, May, July and August. I had to constantly travel to socialist nations and receive their NOC delegations to discuss participation and necessary


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logistics. I visited Hungary twice, as well as Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, the German Democratic Republic, Czechoslovakia and finally China – because my friend Zhenliang He had jokingly said to me, “How come you only go to East European countries and never come to China?”

In addition, I received Bulgarian NOC delegations twice, Chinese delegations twice, GDR delegations five times, Hungarian delegations three times, Mongolian delegations once, Polish delegations three times and the Romanian NOC once. At the same time, numerous negotiations were conducted through my colleague Alexandru Sipercu, as well as Czechoslovakian delegations twice and Yugoslavian delegations twice. On many, many occasions we met each other at IOC, IF and NOC meetings throughout the world, and through IOC President Samaranch and the IOC. We would sleep on planes and go to work the next day. We were advocates for the Seoul Games and the Olympic Movement. We worked together and helped one another, and we succeeded in putting the Olympic Movement back on the right track.

I visited Poland with my wife on 25–28 July. It was very important to know about sports and about sports leaders and their strengths and needs, and to understand the people, customs and history. Minister of Youth and Sports Aleksander Kwasiniewski was on vacation in Hungary but returned to meet me. It was my second visit, as I had been in Warsaw and Poznan to attend the World Junior Fencing Championships in 1976 – becoming the first Korean official to visit Poland. Poland was strong in taekwondo, too.

I met Vice Premier Jozef Koziol in the Cabinet bureau. He emphasised the importance of expanding relations between Poland and Korea, which he said must not stop with the Olympic Games. The socialist nations’ first concern was participation. But their concerns were shifting toward further expansion in economic and cultural fields after the Games. I had an interview at the press office, which was reported on in all of the Polish media, including television. Minister Kwasiniewski told me at dinner that a


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North Korean Embassy official had come to see his vice minister and asked three questions. The North Koreans understood that Poland had to go to the Olympics, but they asked whether Poland had to send taekwondo teams for demonstration programmes. They asked whether Poland had to send Youth Camp participants and dispatch a cultural group. Each time, the answer was yes. Even with the opening of the Olympics approaching and North-South talks in progress – with an offer to allow five sports to be organised in the North – manoeuvring continued to go on behind the scenes.

My visit to Sofia was a combination inspection/tour of the city’s bid for the Winter Olympics. I appreciated the kindness of Minister Yordanov, my colleague in the IOC, and NOC president Ivan Slavkov. I came to understand how Bulgaria, with a population of only nine million, has come to be a world power in sports. I made sure to advise them not to give up until all the votes were counted.

What I heard about Nicolae Ceausescu at that time was that he ran Romania as the one of only two countries in the world that still maintained a Stalinist system and an independent dictatorship – meaning that it was similar to North Korea. Apparently the two countries’ leaders were very close, and their economies were both terribly underdeveloped. However, in sports Romania alone participated in the LA Olympics whilst all the other East European countries were boycotting. It was a sports powerhouse that had produced Nadia Comaneci.

I stayed at a Bucharest hotel. Since Romania had already decided to participate in Seoul Olympics, I had to negotiate their amenities and their participation in the Youth Camp and cultural events as well as to confirm their participation,. At the same time, I visited their training camps and an ancient monastery, a convent and the new government offices under construction in Suceava.

Romania wanted excellent results in the Seoul Games and hoped to surpass the USSR in gymnastics in particular. Having consistently lost


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to the USSR in gymnastics after Comaneci, Romania was now training great athletes such as Aurelia Dobre, and the Romanians claimed that there would be a ‘marvelous surprise’ at the Seoul Olympics. The prediction did not come true, however, after Dobre suffered an injury. One of their worries was a lack of money, as President Ceausescu was reluctant to spend foreign currency on the Olympic squad. At the LA Olympics, Romania had received a substantial sum of US$180,000 from the organising committee; now they were asking for an exemption from paying for accommodation at the Athletes’ Village, along with a chartered airplane, airport service fees and other costs.

The broadcasting situation was similar: as a member of the East European Broadcasting Union, Romania was due to contribute US$250,000, but shortly after Seoul agreed on a broadcasting contract with OIRT, Romania gave notification through the IOC that it would not broadcast the Seoul Olympics. As a result, domestic reporting on Romania’s excellent team was limited to print media. The Romanians were unable to participate in the Youth Camp or cultural events as they were demanding that SLOOC pay for their costs. Their only participation during the Seoul Games was in the competitions. Although Romania had announced its decision to participate, SLOOC was responsible for guaranteeing their convenience until they actually participated, so I promised our unstinting support and cooperation before leaving.

I then headed for Bulgaria. On the way, I visited Hungary for the second time and met sports minister Gabor Deak and others. We had already had satisfactory discussions with them regarding Hungary’s participation when they sent official delegates to Korea in 1987, and they were preparing to establish diplomatic relations with Korea, so I merely had to confirm our friendly relationship and their participation in the Seoul Olympics.

After the Seoul Olympics, I visited Hungary in November 1989 to chair the GAISF general assembly. During this time, my pianist daughter Hae-


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jung played Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Hungarian National Philharmonic and received a standing ovation. The concert was attended by Hungarian president Matyas Szuros, Princess Anne, King Constantin and IOC President Samaranch, among others. This was shortly before President Roh Tae-woo’s official state visit to Hungary. I visited Hungary one more time in June 1990 as a special presidential envoy.

Finally, on 1 September I went to Beijing via Shanghai. The evening before, there was a piano concert by Hae-jung with the Yomiuri Nippon Orchestra at Suntory Hall in Tokyo. The concert hall was filled to capacity, and she received a standing ovation after playing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1. The next day she was off to the US whilst we were off on a three-day visit to China, our last stop before the opening of the Games. It was the site of the next Asian Games and had often been mentioned as a possible site for the Olympic Games in 2000.

We truly realised we were in China as we saw the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. Beijing was the next host city of the Asian Games and aspired to host the 2000 Olympic Games. The Asian Games are not only a Chinese concern but a concern of all Asians. It will be a challenge, however, for the Chinese to organise a better Asian Games than the event in Seoul because the Seoul Asian Games were Olympic in style. We did our best to help the Chinese NOC bring observers for the Asian Games, as well as extra officials, charter flights and more. The Chinese NOC and Japanese NOC delegations were the two best-behaved NOCs during the 1986 Asian Games. We were grateful to China and Japan for being the two most disciplined delegations during the Asian Games.

The Olympic rules prescribe only limited numbers of transportation vehicles for each delegation. At the request of the Chinese delegation, I provided an extra bus and car. SLOOC did not have an extra bus, but KAL President C.K. Cho gladly loaned us one. Daewoo Group chairman Kim Woo-choong also helped the Soviet delegations a great deal. He provided


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them with enough cars, buses and electronic equipment. Now Daewoo is at the forefront of Soviet-Korean economic cooperation.

There was one not-especially-amusing incident related to the participation of the Soviet team. As terrorist threats were a big concern at the time, quite a few people thought that if the Soviet Bloc athletes were to attend the Seoul Olympics, the risk of terrorism would be reduced. The problem was that the risks were considered to be highest one to two months before they were to arrive. During just such a period, the Soviet team arrived in Seoul to participate in the Gymnastics World Championships. Unfortunately, a senior SLOOC official commented to reporters that the Soviets’ attendance was ‘like a bullet-proof vest for us’. On learning this the Soviet officials became outraged. ‘So we are your bullet-proof vests?’ they asked. ‘How could you say such a thing?’ I had to appease them by explaining that the remarks had not been meant in a bad way.

When the delegations of the socialist nations started to arrive in Seoul and President Roh Tae-woo of Korea declared the Games of the 24th Olympiad officially open, we knew we were on the right track for the future of the Olympic Movement. The Olympic Games were a great success, with all but six of the world’s NOCs gathered in one place. With security and friendship guaranteed, athletes had the opportunity to show the world their best achievements. Samaranch, the IOC, the IFs, the NOCs, the press and broadcasters and – through television – the rest of the world have become part of one Olympic Family.

Since the time that the Soviet team had participated in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics and the Cold War spread through the Olympic Games, sports had become a means for the USSR and the Eastern Bloc to present their national interests and demonstrate their superiority over capitalist countries during peacetime.

For example, East Germany, with a population of 18 million, had invested US$1.8 billion to compete against the USSR for first or second


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place. The USSR far surpassed the US and all the other Western countries. Moreover, at the Montreal Olympics, the USSR and Eastern Bloc accounted for seven of the top 10 medal-winning countries. To this end, Soviet Union had invested enormous resources and, under the aegis of its Sports Ministry, prepared and introduced scientifically based training facilities and accommodations for their athletes. First and foremost, they had been pursuing elite sports.

However, Perestroika and movements toward democratisation in the Eastern Bloc have since brought new winds of change, and these countries are now considering a new policy response. Faced with the serious economic deterioration that they experienced whilst undergoing democratisation, as well as the tasks of social, political and economic reconstruction, the Soviet Bloc countries find themselves unable to devote so much of their national financial resources to sports. These circumstances have come as a sudden trial for their sports leaders.

As the saying goes, a rich man can go another three years after going bankrupt. They will likely continue claiming top rankings through the Barcelona Games thanks to the resources and competitive athletic capability that they have established to date. After that, however, they are likely to experience serious difficulties maintaining their competitiveness. Lately, their calls for social physical education as democratisation has progressed have had an element of overtaking elite sports.

Eastern European leaders are hard pressed to attend to sports, whilst sports leaders in these countries have been blindly trying to woo Western financial sponsors – but these are difficult issues. To avoid the collapse of Eastern Bloc sports in such a maelstrom and help provide them with a way forward, IOC President Samaranch has taken action. With all the Eastern Bloc sports ministers, NOC presidents and IOC members in attendance at the Lausanne IOC headquarters in April 1990, he emphasised to the Eastern Bloc sports leaders the importance of elite sports as an underpinning of


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social or public physical education – that is, the importance of continuing to develop elite sports and not allowing them to collapse.

Status of Eastern European Countries and China's Admission to the Athletes’ Village

Country Scheduled Arrival Scheduled No. of Delegates

Other (Airplane/ Ship)

USSR

3 September 26 Ship

4 September 1 Airplane



8 September 125–130 Chartered airplane

10 September 140 Chartered airplane

13 September 20 Via 3rd country

14 September 25


16 September 19 Via 3rd country

18 September 8




Total 14 752

People’s Republic of China





Total 4 463

Bulgaria





12 September Unconfirmed

15 September Unconfirmed

Total 6 350


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Country Scheduled Arrival Scheduled No. of Delegates

Other (Airplane/ Ship)

Hungary







Total 6 360

Czechoslovakia







13–24 September (7 arrivals) 71 Chartered airplane

Total 14 254

Eastern European Countries: Appointment of Consuls-General in South Korea

Country Name Title Period

GDR Dr Helmut Bachmann Consul (cum Attaché) 1988.9.1–10.15

Bulgaria Ms Nina Popova Consul (cum Attaché) 1988.8.21–10.3

USSR

Mr Leonid Ossinkin Counsellor

1988.8.17–10.10

Mr Vladimir Kashirsky First Secretary

Mr Gennady Semyonov First Secretary

Mr Gennady Isaev Third Secretary

Mr Halil Ismailov Chauffeur

Ms Marina Vassilieva Typist

Czechoslovakia Mr Jaroslav Barinka Vice Consul (cum Assistant Attaché) 1988.8.13–10.5

Poland Mr Zygmunt Szule Consul (cum Attaché) 1988.7.15–10.3

Hungary Mr Sandor Csanyi Consul (cum Attaché and Head of Hungarian Trade Office in Korea) 1988.9.1–11.1


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Yuri Titov telex (2 September 1988)


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Record of Discussion between USSR’s NOC and SLOOC (17 May 1988)


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Protocol between East German NOC and SLOOC (9 June 1988)


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Notification of USSR’s Official Sales Agent for Seoul Olympics Tickets (19 February 1988)


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Interview with a reporter from Izvestia, the official newspaper of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (29 June 1990)

- from first contact with the USSR to establishment of diplomatic relationship -

In South Korea Dr Kim Un-yong is a famous public figure who is well known as a sports leader, IOC Executive Board member and founding president of the World Taekwondo Federation. Recently Dr Kim has been touring several Eastern European countries in his capacity as a special envoy of President Roh Tae-woo and is now is visiting the USSR at the invitation of the Soviet Economic System Research Institute and Institute of Science. An Izvestia journalist met Dr Kim Un-yong just before he departed to return to Seoul.

Q uestion. What is the state of progress in the development of political and diplomatic relations between South Korea and the USSR?

A nswer. I visited Hungary, Yugoslavia and Poland, three countries with which South Korea now has diplomatic relations, and met their respective heads of state. We have concluded various treaties with Hungary and not only provided them with a loan but also accepted various proposals for joint ventures. Many Korean companies have started cooperating with Hungarians, and we expect there will be proposals for joint business from other Eastern European countries as well. We can provide them with financial assistance, and the level of our cooperation will depend on the ability and efficiency of these countries in moving toward a market economy.


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Q . To what extent does your government’s planning relate to the USSR?

A. Everyone in Korea welcomes the summit meeting between Presidents Roh Tae-woo and Gorbachev. It is one stage in the mutual cooperation between the two countries. Our contacts started from the Seoul Olympics, and now a firm base has been laid. The Korean government respects the Soviet government position.

Q . During the summit meeting, economic cooperation was discussed. Also, a famous Korean corporation is reportedly planning to make a large investment in the USSR. In particular, negotiations are ongoing in pursuit of a development plan in the far eastern Siberia. What is your prognosis?

A . The USSR has only just started to move toward a market economy. We have more experience in this area. Although South Korea is not a big country, we are the tenth-ranked country in terms of foreign trade, while the USSR has vast natural resources. South Korea is not only interested in importing raw materials from the USSR but also in need of advanced high technology. Such technology can be commercialised in the Korean economy, and indeed there have been actual examples of this. However, an effective trade system will only be possible once a diplomatic relationship has been established between our two countries. This is necessary to avoid double taxation for South Korean investors and to enable the repatriation of profits from USSR to South Korea. There are many promising joint ventures, examples of which would be the installation of a gas pipeline from Irkutsk to South Korea, and joint construction of factories for the production of computers, television, textiles and footwear.


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One thing I would like to emphasise is that establishing diplomatic relations between our two countries is not solely aimed at growing the foreign trade; an even more important aspect is that through official contacts between South Korea and the USSR, we can help enhance mutual understanding among all Asia-Pacific countries seeking political stability in Northeast Asia.

Q . Many times I have heard that in strengthening relations with the USSR, what South Korea hopes for is a mediating role by the USSR for reunification on the Korean Peninsula. What are your views on this issue?

A . Firstly, reunification is an issue for the Koreans. We will seek to resolve this issue through negotiations between Seoul and Pyongyang. We currently have middle-level contacts. To my knowledge, President Roh Tae-woo has proposed to meet with North Korean leaders and is prepared to visit Pyongyang. Economically we are able to help our brethren in North Korea. In my opinion, they could receive financial assistance from us. There will need to be negotiations from many angles, for example parliamentary contacts and contacts between Red Cross, military and sports representatives. South Korean policies are entirely aimed towards resolving issues on the Korean Peninsula. When we pursue this aim more actively, we expect that the USSR, the US and Japan will help us. The world has become more interdependent. Circumstances in the USSR affect the Korean Peninsula. The USSR is not only a European country but also an Asian country. The democratisation of the USSR and Eastern European countries will have an enormous influence on the situation on the Korean Peninsula.


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Izvestia interview (29 June 1990)

Sharing a toast with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during a visit to North Korea as a member of a special delegation for President Kim Dae-jung (2000)

Chapter 6

Inter-Korean Sports Talks

Chapter 6 Inter-Korean Sports Talks

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South Meets North in Lausanne

Samaranch says his job as a sport leader is to deal with sports, but 60 per cent of what he does is politics.

After 12 years of marring by politics and boycotts by the two superpowers, the Seoul Olympics were harried by political problems: opposition in Baden-Baden, boycott threats and, most importantly, the North Korea issue.

The choice of Seoul as an Olympic city came as a tough blow to North Korea, which had campaigned strongly against Seoul in Baden-Baden and had enough problems of its own on the world stage and in the economic sphere. With the complete failure of its campaign against Seoul’s bid in Baden-Baden, Pyongyang launched a diplomatic offensive against the Seoul Games.

Realising that calls for a boycott by Eastern Bloc nations would not be successful, North Korea demanded in summer 1985 that the Games be shared – an unprecedented proposal in the history of the Olympics. According to the Olympic Charter, the Games are awarded to a city. The Games of the 24th Olympiad had been awarded to the city of Seoul by decision of the IOC in Baden-Baden by a vote of 52-27 on 30 September 1981.

Behind the scenes of this drive, there had been threats by North Korea to organise a boycott and to disrupt the staging of the Games if all else failed. Kim Il Sung approached Moscow and Havana; Fidel Castro promised to do his best. Moscow approached the IOC President, saying that a move to share the Games with North Korea would help the socialist bloc nations to participate in the Games of the 24th Olympiad.

At first Seoul was reluctant. Samaranch, who wanted the Olympic Movement to return to the right track and had been harassed by boycott threats and talk of terrorism during the Seoul Games, decided to call for


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inter-Korean sports talks to be held in Lausanne under the supervision of the IOC.

Samaranch had to consult constantly with the Soviets and the GDR on one hand and with Seoul – which was, after all, the organiser – on the other. He personally spoke with the Soviets and the GDR, whilst Sipercu talked with Eastern Bloc nations and the IOC member in Korea discussed the matter with Seoul.

Samaranch’s position was that although the Games had been given to the city of Seoul, the IOC under its direct chairmanship was – in the spirit of the Olympic Movement and world peace – to summon the NOCs of both North and South Korea to meet in Lausanne to discuss possibly sharing several events and sports, which would assure cross-participation in both parts of Korea.

In the meantime there were several unfortunate incidents, including the 1983 shooting down of KAL 007 by the Soviets and the 1987 disappearance of KAL 858 off the coast of Rangoon, Burma, which was the work of North Korean agents. An explosion at Gimpo International Airport just before the arrival of the Chinese team and the opening of the Asian Games in September 1986 also sparked alarm.

Joint Hosting or Dispersed Hosting?

At the first meeting on 8–9 October 1985 in Lausanne, North Korea insisted on co-hosting the Games and fielding a unified team. Naturally it insisted on establishment of a co-OCOG with two presidents and the title ‘Pyongyang-Seoul Olympic Games’, with 11 sports to be organised in Pyongyang and two opening and closing ceremonies held in both Pyongyang and Seoul. The North’s proposal offered no flexibility or room to manoeuvre and was largely political propaganda, which is usually beyond comprehension.


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Seoul, headed by Kim Chong-ha, proposed respecting the Olympic Charter, which held that the right to host the 1988 Olympics in Seoul belonged solely to Seoul, with the possibility of sharing volleyball, handball and football. The IOC made it clear that the 1988 Olympics could not be co-hosted due to Olympic Charter stipulations, adding that a unified team was something to be negotiated bilaterally and was not an agendum of that meeting. North Korean delegates had no room for manoeuvring. Such was the first meeting. Although many people doubted its likelihood of success, some people really wanted the effort to succeed, and the socialist nations continued to pressure Seoul to share more sports. It would have certainly made it less difficult to get the socialist nations to participate.

Ewald of the GDR proposed sharing six sports. Others, such as Smirnov or Slavkov, were of the opinion that Pyongyang would never be able to accept any offer, even if Seoul were to propose eight sports. Experts saw the more difficult issue as being that of 25,000 accredited officials, athletes, press and television crews crossing the border. Once certain sports were accepted by Pyongyang to be organised in North Korea, it would have to open its border to the whole world. The free flow and crossing of accredited personnel was actually the key issue.

At the second meeting, which was held in January 1986, Pyongyang insisted that allowing the two Koreas to co-host the Games would solve all the other problems. But Seoul proposed four sports and events, whilst the IOC, as usual, declared that co-hosting was out of the question due to the Olympic Charter. Instead, the IOC suggested sharing a few more sports with the North.

By the third meeting, which was held in June 1986 before the Asian Games, it had become clear that the North would continue to insist on co-hosting the Games under the ‘Pyongyang-Seoul Games’ title, whilst the IOC and South Korea kept proposing that certain sports and events could be shared by the North before the more important issues such as free crossing


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of borders by accredited personnel or the Opening Ceremony were taken up. It was very difficult, but there was by then a feeling in Seoul that it would be historic for the destiny of the Korean people if this meeting were to succeed. The IOC, which foresaw very difficult issues ahead even if Pyongyang were to accept its proposal, tried very hard. Professional experts always foresaw difficulties in terms of allowing free exchanges of visitors across the border. I was also very concerned.

It was difficult to understand the strange behaviour of Pyongyang, which acted as if the privilege of hosting the Olympics had already been granted to it. Since the host country need not send a football team to the preliminary tournaments to qualify for the Games, Pyongyang did not bother to send its team to Malaysia for the preliminary qualifications for Asia. FIFA, the ruling body of international football, was not sympathetic to Pyongyang’s action and immediately disqualified the North Korean team from participating in the Olympic football tournaments.

Negotiations between South and North saw additional complications. In the course of the inter-Korean negotiations the IOC always had to consult with the relevant IFs. Many federations went along with the efforts of the IOC but were actually unhappy about the prospect of going to North Korea to organise all or part of their events. Although North Korea’s chief delegate was IOC member Kim Yu-sun, a veteran diplomat, former North Korean Ambassador to Geneva Chin Choong-kuk was in the North Korean delegation. He usually held a press conference before the talks in Geneva to outline North Korea’s position. After the talks, Chin usually said whatever he saw fit to. Chin’s statements were usually far from the real story and became a source of embarrassment to Samaranch.

In May 1987, just before the fourth meeting, there was an IOC General Session in Istanbul. As usual, IOC President Samaranch reported to the plenary session on the progress of the inter-Korean Sports Talks. Surprisingly, Kim Yu-sun, my colleague who was the IOC member in


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North Korea and chief delegate of the talks, made a strong presentation in Russian, arguing that North Korea needed eight sports to co-host the Games. Whilst he was speaking, some members started to whisper, ‘Where did this idea of eight sports come from?’ As he continued to speak, Alain Coupat, private secretary to Samaranch, came to me with a message from the President suggesting that I should make a rebuttal. As I was listening to Kim Yu-sun’s presentation, I went quickly to work preparing the outline of my speech. It was very cordial and gentle, but I had to clearly present before the whole session about the efforts we had been making.

I started off by saying, ‘Although the Games were awarded to Seoul according to the Olympic Charter, Seoul has responded to a request by the IOC to share sports and events with North Korea in the spirit of the Olympic Movement and peace in the world, and Seoul is still waiting for North Korea to accept before we can discuss other major issues such as free access and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. The door is still open.’

The IOC General Session delegated full authority to the IOC EB on the matter and, in view of the approaching invitation ceremony and the Games, the IOC decided to send IOC delegations to Pyongyang shortly after the IOC session in Istanbul to discuss details before the next meeting.

An IOC delegation headed by Sipercu and including Coupat as well visited Pyongyang on 27–29 May and visited the venues. The delegation wanted to come to Seoul across the border at Panmunjom but Pyongyang refused, even though North Korean officials had said they would guarantee free access during the Olympics. It was very contradictory to say on the one hand that free access during the Games would be guaranteed, and to refuse on the other to allow an official IOC delegation to cross Panmunjom to travel to Seoul.

I knew it was a test by Samaranch to see how Pyongyang would handle this important matter. I learned that he was very discouraged after this incident and even came to doubt North Korea’s sincerity to some extent,


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although he did not give up on the inter-Korean talks. To him, the North’s attitude was incomprehensible.

Seoul always thought Sipercu was too close to North Korea and expected he would press Seoul to accept sharing more sports or co-hosting the Games – even under the ‘Pyongyang-Seoul’ banner. It even thought he would consider pressing us to accept a ‘Games of the XXIV Olympiad in Seoul and Games of the XXIV Olympiad in Pyongyang’. Apparently the North Korean ambassador in Bucharest had gone to see Sipercu and threaten that North Korea would not tolerate seeing the Games in Seoul. ‘There will be a bloodbath if Seoul hosts the Games alone’, the ambassador had warned. We had several meetings with Sipercu and Park. The Games were coming close and it was time for SLOOC to make a decision, since any decision would be its responsibility. SLOOC President Park was very tough and argued with Sipercu. We held to our position: the door was open, but organising the Games was SLOOC’s responsibility.

Sipercu’s visit happened just before the 29 June Declaration by presidential candidate Roh Tae-woo. I saw a huge demonstration on television in Japan on the way back from my visit to the IOC and became very concerned.

The IOC and its members were always concerned about demonstrations and political developments in Korea. Each time, we assured them that the demonstrations were rooted in the domestic situation and that the Korean people were united in their support of the Olympic Games. We said the situation would be resolved before the Games. President Roh also offered constant assurances to the IOC of Korea’s determination to host the Games successfully.

When I went to Sydney to sign the TV contract with Channel 10, their first questions were not about Games preparations but about student demonstrations and their potential impact on the Olympics. The US networks ABC and NBC also questioned me about political stability and


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Games security whenever they happened to find me in New York. Soviet Vice Minister Gavrilin told me that he had told the Soviet Broadcasting Ministry not to show scenes of the demonstrations in Seoul so as not to affect the Soviet athletes’ preparations. One US athlete said he was scared to come to Seoul, suggesting that if the situation worsened the Games should be moved to a safer place. Robert Helmick of the US Olympic Committee made several public statements asserting that the US had every intention of coming to the Seoul Games. Some tourists and visitors who had planned to attend the Seoul Olympics did cancel their plans. Many overseas Koreans also changed their minds about attending the Games. The demonstrations and political question remained at the forefront until the Games started.

On Sunday, 28 June, I went with Park to see President Roh Tae-woo at his residence to report to him on the inter-Korean talks and deliver messages from Samaranch. I was wondering what he could do now after encountering such opposition by the people.

To my surprise Roh was very composed and calm. He told me to tell Samaranch not to worry about the success of the Games. He said he would see to it that the Games were successful. Very soon everything would be in order as the people wanted, he said. I did not understand what he meant, although I sensed something was coming.

The next morning on 29 June, Roh made his very famous declaration of political freedom and direct popular presidential elections.

I brought Coupat and Sipercu to meet with President Roh later and relay his message to Samaranch. They also brought a message from Samaranch assuring him of the IOC’s full support for the success of the Games.

The fourth inter-Korean meeting, which turned out to be the last, took place on 14–15 July in Lausanne. Seoul was ready to offer six sports in a bid to conclude the talks successfully. On the second day of the meeting, Kim Chong-ha prepared to make an initial offer of only five. The IOC’s proposal was to offer the full competition of both men’s and women’s


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table tennis, men’s and women’s archery, women’s volleyball (up to five finals), one football preliminary group and the men’s cycling road race. Of course, North Korea wanted eight sports plus TV rights, the ‘Pyongyang Games’ nomenclature and Opening and Closing Ceremonies in both Seoul and Pyongyang. Both Koreas were told by the IOC to respond to the IOC proposal. Seoul quickly accepted the proposal, but North Korea asked for more time on its reply and requested another meeting.

By then, the IOC had decided that unless the sports proposed by the IOC were accepted, it would be impractical to proceed with further negotiations. Samaranch was unhappy with how the proposals – first two sports, then four sports and five sports – only led to new requests each time for ‘more’. That is why he advised against offering six sports. His strategy was to offer one or two more sports if North Korea genuinely wanted to share the Games and accepted the IOC proposal. Then the IOC would consider more and discuss practical matters such as free access, TV rights and opening and closing ceremonies. It would have been very difficult to break up Seoul’s TV rights for Pyongyang at the time because all TV rights were based on contracts, but the IOC was considering giving US$20 million to Pyongyang for TV installation assistance and the OIRT was investigating the feasibility of providing technical assistance to Pyongyang.

After the fourth meeting the IOC did not respond to calls for another meeting, barring North Korea’s acceptance of its IOC proposal, although the door would remain open until the opening of the Games.

By then, the socialist nations had witnessed the efforts of the IOC and SLOOC to share the Games with North Korea; they understood the situation and did not complain. They were getting ready to come to Seoul. Whilst negotiations were going on, SLOOC had continued to make preparations to host all the events.

Pyongyang made requests, both directly to the IOC and through socialist friends, to have the IOC postpone the invitation ceremony on 17 September


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1987. But the IOC had no reason to postpone it, and instead urged North Korea to respond quickly. It told Pyongyang that the door was still open.

There was much speculation, with newspapers suggesting possible deadlines of ‘May 1987’ or ‘17 September 1987’ or ‘17 January 1988’ for North Korea’s participation and the sharing of the Games. But the IOC’s position was to keep the door open for Pyongyang to share the Games for as long as possible and leave open the possibility of North Korea’s participation until the opening of the Games.

Fidel Castro sent Mario Vazquez Rana of Mexico to Pyongyang to see if Kim Il Sung would release Cuba from its promise to side with North Korea in its decision to participate. Vazquez received two lectures – one from the foreign minister and a one-hour lecture from Kim Il-sung. ‘Why would Castro send Vazquez to speak for him on this problem?’ they asked. ‘Castro should speak for himself.’ ‘The US and Japan are hampering the Games’. Vazquez wanted to come to Seoul if invited, but there was no reason for us to listen to him tell us something we already knew.

The inter-Korean sports talks had a great impact on the thoughts of Koreans striving for eventual reunification. Those who did not understand the Olympic Charter or Olympic rules and those who did not care about the Olympic Charter all thought that co-hosting was a necessary prerequisite for cross participation. They thought this was a perfect opportunity to resolve national divisions and lay the groundwork for unification. People began speaking out in some corners of society, especially student circles.

IOC President Samaranch wanted to meet with three Korean opposition political leaders during his visit in November 1987 to seek their support as well as to express gratitude to them for their support of the Games, but he was unable to do so because his visit coincided with the presidential campaign. The following April he visited again for a final inspection trip before the opening of the Games. With the election over and the new government headed by President Roh Tae-woo in place, he decided again


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to visit the three leaders of the three opposition political parties.I arrived back from my visits to Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary to find

Park Seh-jik waiting for me. A daylong meeting with government agencies concerning the visit had ended without any conclusion. I attended the morning meeting and pressed to arrange a meeting, which Park supported. Some of the bureaucrats were opposed. I asked them how they could stop such a meeting. If an individual courtesy call was not a good option, I might suggest that Samaranch invite the three Kims to breakfast in a simple and mutually acceptable way. Finally accepting the idea, one bureaucrat suggested that the meeting should take place at a reception celebrating the opening of the new swimming hall. With more than 1,000 people expected to attend the opening, I wondered why he wanted the meeting to take place there. He replied that the crowd would deflect the mass media’s attention from the meeting. It was quite a stupid thing to suggest. I explained that whether the three Kims and Samaranch met among 1,000 people or 3,000, the spotlight would be on them regardless. I suggested a breakfast meeting at the invitation of Samaranch. Finally they gave me a message to communicate with Samaranch: in view of the approaching Olympic Games, the three leaders would be happy to meet Samaranch, because the success of the Games in Seoul was everyone’s concern. I called Samaranch. He said that he would visit the leaders, but that he would leave the arrangements up to me if that helped matters. At first he was unhappy with a breakfast-style meeting rather than separate courtesy calls, but later he approved of my proposal. I included Park in the meeting.

Samaranch invited Kim Dae-jung, Kim Young-sam and Kim Jong-pil along with a representative of the Democratic Justice Party, Yoon Giel-joong. Park and I were also present. The three Kims understood the IOC’s efforts vis-à-vis the inter-Korean talks and the impracticability of co-hosting due to the Olympic Charter, although the IOC was proposing that the Games be shared and it was the IOC’s position to keep the door open until


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the last minute. The conclusion was that they would try again, but that the IOC President should also try again. Full cooperation at the national level for the success of the Games was assured. It was a very fruitful meeting for the Olympic Movement and national unity.

At the request of Kim Dae-jung, Samaranch and I, as Korea’s IOC member, met with representatives of civic groups to explain about the IOC’s position and efforts. After this meeting, no more calls to co-host the Games were registered from civic leaders or students. People did not understand why Samaranch, as a sports leader, had wanted to meet political leaders – but Samaranch had his reasons, which the government came to appreciate later.

After meeting the three Kims, Samaranch issued a press release stating that he would try once again, leaving the door wide open, and that he was prepared to visit Pyongyang if he was invited. There was, of course, no reply from Pyongyang.

Hope for North Korea’s Participation Evaporates

After all these efforts, North Korea never came to the Seoul Games. Cuba was also one of the seven countries that stayed away from Seoul.

North Korea knew of the boycotts at Moscow and LA and was only interested in saving face. Pyongyang was not really ready to accept 25,000 accredited athletes, officials and representatives of the press and TV, especially those from the West. It had proposed a unified team, but there was no progress with that, since it was beside the point.

Samaranch and the IOC, however, had gone above and beyond the Olympic Charter with their historic proposal, and their efforts contributed to the success of the Games and the Olympic Movement. SLOOC was also very receptive. Their positive attitude helped the Soviets and socialist


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nations feel at ease and comfortable about participating the Seoul Games.Seoul’s image was boosted considerably. I am sure it helped with the

Northern diplomacy effort as Korea presented a new positive image on the international stage. North Korea could have improved its image simply by coming to the Seoul Games, but it could never overcome its self-imposed barriers. It had a chance but lost it.

There were the usual calls for punishments for the boycotting countries, including suspension of athletes and officials from participating in future Games, suspension of qualifications of international officials and referees and suspension of Olympic solidarity funds. The IOC position is that countries may be absent even if they receive invitations. The real reason was not to hurt the athletes; no punitive actions had been taken since Moscow.

With the Seoul Games bringing East and West together in one place, there will be no more boycotts. The era of boycotts is over, and nobody sees any good in not participating in the Games.

The Olympic Games have survived for 100 years and will move into the future with Samaranch at the helm.

After the Games, I delivered closing remarks on 19 November for a solidarity course organised by the USSR Olympic Committee at the Sport Hotel in Moscow. There were two North Korean participants, but they were the only ones not responding. I met North Korean delegates at an IOC EB NOC meeting in Vienna in December. They were complaining that they had heard about SLOOC making accusations in its reports and were wondering why they would do such a thing after the Games had been concluded successfully. I assured them that the report was merely to thank delegates for their cooperation toward the success of the Games and that there would be no accusations or embarrassment. They said that I should act outside of my SLOOC position and help them from a position of world leadership in sport. Park had already been transferred to another post in Seoul, and I


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had to represent SLOOC. I spent five minutes thanking delegates for their cooperation and showed our film. By the time I was finished, the North Korean delegates had already left the room.

A ceremony for the sending of invitations to the Seoul Olympics is held in Lausanne, home of the IOC headquarters (1987)

Chapter 7

Organisation of the Games


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Endless Demands of the Olympic Family

At the time Seoul was awarded the Games of the XXIV Olympiad in Baden-Baden in 1981, Seoul had never organised a full world championships event. There was little recognition of its economic potential or organisational capabilities and much apprehension about its political problems and the possibility of another boycott threat. The world started to watch developments with concern and apprehension. Yet after seeing the success of the Asian Games in 1986, which were regarded as a preliminary exercise, the eyes of the world began to change. ‘Harmony’ and ‘progress’ were the slogans of the Seoul Games. After 16 days of glory, the world realised that Seoul had accomplished something for the Olympic Movement and world peace – something that had been missing for the last 12 years. Over those 16 days, 160 countries with 13,304 squad members (3,887 officials and 9,417 athletes) gathered in one place to produce one of the most successful Olympic Games in Olympic history.

The 160 participating countries were 19 more than had shown up in Los Angeles, with 3,538 more athletes and officials than had participated in Munich. The scope of the Seoul Games was the largest ever with 23 official programmes, two demonstration programmes and two exhibition sports for a total of 237 events. In all, 15,740 members of the press and broadcasters, 10,288 referees and delegates, 900 youths from 48 countries, 3,400 VIPs from 162 countries, 24,000 volunteers and 240,000 tourists were part of the greatest festival of mankind the world has seen.

The Seoul Games boasted excellent facilities, operations and services to participating NOCs and a secure atmosphere of order and safety. Seoul’s working-level mottos were ‘maximum participation’, ‘highest achievement’, ‘service’, ‘economy’ and ‘safety’. Fully 223,893 people were mobilised for the Games: 49,712 for operations, 26,143 for performances, 112,009 for safety and security, 21,207 for the torch relay and 14,822 for support

Chapter 7 Organisation of the Games

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services. A total of 70.9 billion won worth of items were used: 13.9 billion won in purchased items, 8.7 billion won in leased materials, 41.5 billion won in licenced items,300 million won in donations and more.

A total of 112 facilities were used: 34 competition venues, 72 training sites and six related facilities. Of the 1,030 competitions that were held, 1,000 took place on time, whilst 15 took place after a one-minute delay, 9 after a three-minute delay and 6 after a delay of more than five minutes. The Seoul Games produced 33 world records, 5 tied world records, 227 new Olympic records and 42 new tied Olympic records. Attendance totalled 3.5 million spectators and 3,272,923 admission tickets were sold.

The city of Seoul built 122 apartment buildings containing 5,430 units as Olympic Villages.

The Main Stadium, which was to be the site of athletics events, football and the opening and closing ceremonies, was opened officially on 29 September 1984. IOC President Samaranch and IAAF president Primo Nebiolo were there, and a special athletics event was organised following the ceremony. Interestingly, most of those who attended the Opening Celebration left the stadium, and Nebiolo and I were left with an audience of just 2,000 for the athletics.

Learning how to organise athletics events and building up an athletics boom to fill the Main Stadium became another task. SLOOC went to all of the Athletics Congresses to give progress reports, learn about organisation and acquire experience. It attended all world championships and indoor or marathon World Cups. A yearly Seoul International Athletics championships was staged and the World Cup Marathon was organised in Seoul.

The Asian Games provided ample opportunity to gain experience in organisation, broadcasting and stadium management and cooperation with international organisations.

A more difficult task was to nurture Korean stars. No medal had been


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won by the Korean team at the Main Stadium – not in athletics, not in equestrian jumping and not in soccer. Korea had to settle for ‘stadium medals’ for the organisation of the opening and closing ceremonies, audience control and friendship.

On the last day – the day of the marathon – it was learned that group of radical students planned to attempt to cross the line of running marathoners to disrupt the Games. IOC member Ashwini Kumar reported that a uniformed police officer would be positioned at every metre interval. We had them dress in plain clothes instead and succeeded in protecting the marathon.

Any disruption would have been a failure for the marathon and a sad moment in the history of the Seoul Olympics. The walls of the Main Stadium were to be decorated with the emblems of SLOOC and the Olympic rings to be televised to the whole world so that people would remember the Seoul Games when the film was reviewed years later. This had been suggested two years before the Games by Samaranch, but nothing had been done and a strong pitch was necessary at the last minute.

The Main Stadium had only 69,000 seats. For the Opening Ceremony, 29,000 seats had already been taken by members of the Olympic Family, the IOCs, the IFs, the NOCs, the press, television, judges and referees. Another 20,000 seats were for the 42 million people of Korea, and the remaining 20,000 were for 167 countries and had been sold through NOCs and NOC-designated agents. For example, there were 135 commentator boxes for broadcasters, with each commentator seat taking away 11 audience seats. As usual, getting a ticket for the opening and closing ceremonies became impossible. The stadium had not really been built for the Olympics but for Seoul citizens. The city of Seoul could not increase the seating capacity.

The overhead cover was constructed at a later stage. It resulted in an echo effect, and the acoustics were so poor that we were forced to fix the


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problem. Fifty per cent of the work was done just before the Asian Games and the remainder was finished later.

After it became impossible for people to buy Opening Ceremony tickets through the banks’ computer system, SLOOC finally came up with the idea of inviting citizens once and working personnel once to two Opening and Closing Ceremony rehearsals, which featured the same programmes as the actual ceremonies.

When even those tickets became hard to get, the SLOOC president came up with another idea. Large screens were set up outside the Main Stadium so that citizens could watch what was going on inside. It was the same as watching TV at home, but it also had a closer and fresher feeling because the screens were right next to the Main Stadium.

The IOC and NOCs requested for all athletes to be seated at the Main Stadium. SLOOC initially was very much against this – not because it did not want to give the athletes seats, but simply because there were no seats available.

The Summer Games were different from the Winter Games in Calgary. Calgary had seated all of the athletes, but there were only 1,700 of them. In Seoul, the athletes numbered 10,000. Faced with continued requests, demands and pressure, SLOOC had to do something. Finally we blocked out 3,000 seats for athletes at the opening and closing ceremonies. The SLOOC president also came up with the idea of having them watch a large screen with shade and soft drinks at a warm-up site next to the Main Stadium, but the idea didn’t work out, as many of the athletes went back to the villages. Barcelona is now facing the same demand to seat all 10,000 athletes at its stadium during the opening and closing ceremonies. The IOC also added this requirement to the questionnaire for the bidding cities for the 1996 Summer Games.

Five hundred officials and athletes were in Busan but were to come to Seoul to attend the Opening Ceremony at the request of the IYRU. Half of


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them were to come to Seoul the night before by train and stay overnight at a Seoul hotel. This was provided at SLOOC expense, along with a tour of the city of Seoul if requested. The rest were to come by a charter plane departing at 8 o’clock on the morning of 17 September.

Peter Tallberg of IYRU was in Korea a few days early to make preparations and attend the IOC sessions. I received a report from our yachting centre in Busan saying that the IYRU wanted all 500 to come to Seoul on the day of the Opening Ceremony and that he had requested another plane.

We did not have another plane, and the arrangements had been made long before after full consultations. Any last-minute changes of the logistics plan were impossible.

We could have chartered another plane but there was no plane available, and we would have had to cancel all hotels and train bookings. SLOOC said it was impossible. Apparently, the IYRU approached IOC President Samaranch, who tried to mediate. I explained why it was realistically impossible. Samaranch fully understood but urged me to do my best for my colleagues. I called Korean Air president Cho Choong-kun, who said no at first; there were no planes to move around, he explained. KAL was already overstretched with Olympics-related transport. We had a very good relationship and KAL owed a lot to Samaranch and me for assisting KAL in winning flyover rights for Soviet territory to transport officials and athletes faster and more comfortably. I offered an idea: how about changing the 7 a.m. shuttle to a 7.30 a.m. charter? This meant that he would have to refuse all passengers for the 7 a.m. flight from Busan to Seoul – yet it was the only solution I could think of. He told me that he would do his best. He did do his best, and he called back to say that he had a plane for 7.30 a.m. departure from Busan, preceding the planned 8 a.m. flight. I gave the report to Samaranch and called Tallberg, but he was already at the ocean front, so I left a message that everything was OK.


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The next day I was told that IYRU had changed its mind; it would come up as originally planned by train and plane and did not need the extra plane. I apologised to Cho of KAL when I called him. He, of course, said he had done his part, and it turned out OK because he was able to shift the plane to another purpose.

Four Principles

SLOOC and the city of Busan had had to struggle for two years to prevent water contamination from upstream dirt and chemicals. One time a press helicopter crashed into the sea; fortunately nobody was injured. Yachting had its own opening and closing ceremonies. Under public pressure, SLOOC had to cut its budget by two-thirds. Then came counter-pressure from the citizens of Busan, who insisted that their budget should not be reduced. We wanted to finish the race and hold the closing ceremony as planned but ended up having to postpone it due to wind and impracticality. Princess Christina of Spain participated as competitor, and the Queen of Spain also visited frequently. King Constantine was there as IYRU vice president. The sea was a little deeper and stormier than normal, but even without much experience in yachting Korea was able to successfully stage the competitions with the help of IYRU and its president Peter Tallberg, apart from a two-day delay in competition due to high winds.

Although I understood the Olympic Family members’ strong commitment and desire to do their best for participating delegations, I felt that their demands were growing larger and larger, to the point that they were almost beyond the capabilities of the Olympic Organising Committee. This is the price of success, really. I instructed all of my bureaus to do their best according to four principles: the Olympic Charter, consideration of past precedent, our capabilities and our will. ‘Do your best according to


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these four principles, but never do anything beyond them, no matter how much they threaten you’, I told my people. When we are asked for help, we would do our best. If somebody threatened us, we would not do more than whatever was prescribed in the Olympic Charter.

I was concerned about demands growing beyond the requirements of the Olympic Charter or being based on the whims of individuals concerned in future Games organisations.

Athletics represent the pinnacle of the Olympic Games. In Seoul, the pinnacle of athletics was the 100-metre dash. The competition between Carl Lewis of the US and Ben Johnson of Canada was the centre of attention.

This race would lead some people to refer to the Seoul Games as ‘the doping Games’. This was not fair: LA had 12 cases whereas Seoul had only 10. It was just that but one particular case was given a lot more publicity.

At 1.30 p.m., Samaranch and I were at the Main Stadium. The race between Johnson and Lewis ended in a victory for Johnson, who set a world record with a time of 9.79 seconds. Samaranch awarded the medals officially for the first time in the Seoul Olympics. He had awarded medals in taekwondo on 17 September but that had been a demonstration programme.

On the evening of 27 September, I met with Samaranch in his room. ‘We are in trouble’, he told me. I asked, ‘What is the crisis?’ The Games had been going well, but I sensed that something must have happened. Samaranch said, ‘According to Merode, Johnson tested positive for doping. Do not tell anybody. We will find out more and make a decision tomorrow morning.’ Meetings took up the entire evening. The press was already aware that something was up, and reporters were calling everybody. Later I heard that Pound (an IOC member from Canada) was saying that somebody could have put something in Johnson’s urine sample; eventually he stopped because there was no proof. James Worrall and the entire Canadian delegation were frantic. Finally, Johnson lost his gold medal in


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what would become the biggest sports story in the world. He was alleged to have taken banned substances six months before the Games, although his test had been negative at the 1987 World Championships in Rome. We had to use stairways to avoid press and TV people trying to catch us at the elevator and in the hotel lobby.

Whilst this was going on, there was a report that KOC president Kim Chong-ha had resigned, taking responsibility for a boxing ring incident which had led to violence, a sit-in strike and even an anti-American rally. If he did resign, he would go down in Olympic history as the one to blame. After I explained this to Samaranch, he told me to call Kim. We were at the Olympic Villages waiting for the arrival of President and Mrs Roh Tae-woo.

We were scheduled to visit the Olympic Villages and dine with athletes at the village cafeteria. President Roh was himself a member of the Olympic Family and a humble man. Whilst we were waiting for him at the village mayor’s office, I succeeded in getting hold of Kim Chong-ha and told him to wait for Samaranch in his room at 10 p.m. After a dinner with Spanish journalists, we found Kim Chong-ha waiting in Samaranch’s suite. He was finally persuaded to change his mind and stay on as KOC president. This was also the general view of the IOC members.

The whole incident was the result of ringside violence that had erupted on the morning of 22 September after a decision was made in favour of Bulgarian boxer Alexandar Hristov over Byun Jung-il of Korea. Korean coaches went up to the ring and protested to chief referee Keith Walker of New Zealand; Byun himself protested by refusing to leave the ring. The audience joined in, and Korean coaches – headed by Lee Heung-soo – protested wildly in the ring. The competition stopped as the uproar lasted for more than one hour.

It was a most unpleasant incident for the Seoul Olympics, and the mass media gave it major coverage. Some of the Koreans who saw it on TV


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lamented that it was a disgrace to the country. NBC treated the incident as big news and broadcast live coverage for an hour, which led to a surge of anti-American feeling. NBC was subjected to bomb threats at the IBC and at venues; it even erased some of the logos from its trucks and cars.

The incident would lead some to argue against keeping boxing on the Olympic Programme. Boxing was to be reviewed both in medical terms and in terms of referee quality. The quota system is also under examination, with a number of NOCs opposed to it. Samaranch was visiting IBC when the incident began, and he watched for more than 40 minutes before he came to my luncheon for broadcasters at the 63 Building Convention Hall. On the same day, a gold medal was taken away for the first time in the Seoul Olympics from Bulgarian weightlifter Mitko Grablev. Things were happening. The atmosphere at the boxing site remained violent and dark. Anti-NBC feeling ran high; even anti-American feelings started to surface. Members of IOC began speaking out against boxing based on medical concerns, including the possibility of brain damage, and the quality of referees. Referee Walker was kept under guard as he headed to the airport for immediate departure. After the Games, SLOOC received a request for his return ticket, which he had been unable to pick up because he had left in such a hurry; his ticket was actually the responsibility of AIBA.

As I was leaving the Cheong Wa Dae after a luncheon in honour of the Queen of Spain, Minister Cho and I learned directly from President Roh about his concerns regarding the unfortunate developments against our good friends, the Americans. I invited Arthur Watson, Mike Eskridge and Alex Gilady to a luncheon on 29 September at a Chinese restaurant at the 63 Building. I encouraged them in their work, reassured them of our concern and cooperation and stressed that this wave of negative feeling was only a temporary phenomenon that would soon revert to the original bonds of friendship. Small incidents such as US swimmers stealing a couple of shirts at an Itaewon store, a couple of athletes breaking into the officials’


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room at the Main Stadium and NBC crew members ordering T-shirts with symbols depicting the boxing incident did not help the situation. The disorderly behaviour by the US delegation at the Opening Ceremony parade, as Robert Helmick pointed out, also did not help. But tensions soon eased as many friends such as Chung Ju-young stood at the forefront in calming public opinion.

In our preparations for the Games, construction of new venues had been less of a problem than training operational personnel to carry out the competitions. Equestrian sports, for example, had existed in Korea but only at a very small scale. The Asian Games had been the key to the successful execution of the Seoul Olympics. Due to the forthcoming Seoul Olympics, and awareness of the special requirements of training operational personnel, all of the International Federations actually participated in the Asian Games to help prepare for the competitions. The IOC even launched special solidarity courses for Seoul in all sports. Equestrian sports were an area which needed special attention, and the Asian Games were a dry run for the Olympics. Asian people did not want to hear this, but this was true.

Fritz Widmer, secretary general of FEI, played a key role. He had to battle – sometimes with the SLOOC Competition Department and other times with the Korea Horse Affairs Association, which lacked experience. For the three-day event, Seoul Equestrian Park and Wondang Ranch would be completed by June 1988, including all necessary adjuncts and quarantine rules. The first issue was to coordinate a timetable and site for the individual jumping competition. FEI rules state that the individual jumping competition is to be held at the Main Stadium on the final day, just before the marathon race and before the closing ceremony. The Los Angeles Games did not have the individual jumping competition at the Main Stadium. Only the award ceremony was held at the Main Stadium in LA, after the horses came in and walked around the stadium. Each international sports federation wants its own sport to be broadcast not only


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live on television and in full but also during prime time and at the biggest main sports arena. But Prince Philip, then the FEI President, wanted the individual jumping competition to take place at the Main Stadium on the final day for the sake of global exposure.

Nebiolo was of the opinion that individual jumping demanded much time and that it would be impossible to move all the equipment; he thought it would be better if the Main Stadium were open for audiences to watch the marathon on the screen until the final finisher came in, after which the Closing Ceremony could take place. For him athletics were of prime importance. Nebiolo went to see Prince Philip but could not reach an agreement. The first World Games were to take place in London in July 1985, and I was there that spring to inspect preparations. Nebiolo learned that I was in London and wanted to see me at IAAF Headquarters to insist that there should be only the marathon and no individual jumping at the Main Stadium. I was also invited to Buckingham Palace.

Charles Palmer went with me, and we found Fritz Widmer waiting there. It was the second visit to Buckingham Palace for me. I had been there in 1967 with Korean Ambassador Bae Ui-hwan when he presented credentials to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Each high-ranking embassy official was given an individual audience with the Queen. Prince Philip was coming to Seoul to attend the FEI bureau meeting in October 1985, and the prince, who did not see complete harmony in preparations between FEI and SLOOC/KHAA, wanted to use me to lay the groundwork for strong cooperation. He hoped to see great success with equestrian sports at the Seoul Olympics, and he wanted the individual jumping competition to happen in the morning on the final day. The only way to do this was to start early enough and finish early enough so that the stadium could be cleared before the Marathon began; this would entail a training site and lots of logistics in terms of transporting horses, installing obstacles, feeding horses and establishing plans for officials. I decided to work out a solution


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with both FEI and IAAF and settle all questions by the October FEI Bureau meeting in Seoul through Fritz Widmer, who later served as a GAISF council member under my presidency.

At the October FEI Bureau meeting, we agreed to start the individual jumping final at 8 a.m. in order to finish before the marathon started at 2.35 p.m. Most of Seoul’s experiences in equestrian sports had been acquired during the Asian Games, but FEI thought that would not be enough. Equestrian events are very traditional and involve the highest level of technique. For the first time obstacles were designed by FEI at the Main Stadium in a distinctively Korean style with many Korean features. The real work of ensuring success was accomplished after HRH Princess Anne took over the presidency of FEI from her father. During the IOC Executive Board-IF meeting at Lausanne Palace in April 1987, I met with Princess Anne in her capacity as FEI president. She was assisted by Fritz Widmer, and I was assisted by Moon Dong-hoo. All areas of improvements and a proposed visit by Princess Anne were covered satisfactorily. Princess Anne came to Seoul in November 1987. Prince Philip and Princess Anne were not just royal family members; they were dedicated to sports and the welfare of the public.

Princess Anne was impressed by Wondang and Gwacheon. The points raised were accepted by me at the SLOOC headquarters, because they were mostly matters that truly did require special attention to succeed. We agreed to accept Mrs Jackson as a permanent consultant along with 40 consultants from FEI. We agreed to make one more horse transportation van and to provide live telecasts of the three-day endurance competition at Wondang. According to Korean regulations, the arriving grooms would go through immigration at one point and be separated from their horse for about one-and-a-half hours. We appealed to the Justice Ministry to allow the horses and grooms to be cleared together.

Special protection and care had to be provided for Princess Anne and her


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entourage in view of her special status.A total of 1,500 operational personnel from SLOOC had to be used for

competitions, facilities, veterinary services, media, venue management and medical services. In equestrian sports, both horses and attendants had to be taken care of. Quarantine procedures, transportation of horses and customs formalities, feeding and management of horses, veterinary services, horse shoeing services, attendants’ quarters and arena stables were all discussed.

I hosted a big dinner in honour of Princess Anne on the eve of her departure, and she seemed to be satisfied with the progress and the foundation that had been laid for the success of the equestrian competition in Seoul.

I was very impressed with her personality, dedication and professional knowledge. She wanted to be viewed strictly as FEI president whilst in Seoul.

The following April during an IOC EB-IF meeting in Lausanne, Princess Anne and FEI invited me and my wife to dinner along with all my GAISF council members. I was stopped by Samaranch in the lobby. He told me that Nebiolo was very unhappy because he had not been invited to the dinner. I said that Princess Anne had decided on the invitations and that it was my understanding the dinner was for me and my wife along with the GAISF council members. Samaranch smiled. Later I heard about a lot of complaints that Nebiolo had shared with the press and sports people. In any case, over a seven-year period SLOOC prepared well for the equestrian sports competition with much help from FEI. SLOOC also organised the events quite well, although we had hoped that we would have larger crowds at the individual jumping competition. Part of the blame lies with SLOOC’s ticket management. People had to leave after the individual jumping and come back in for the closing ceremony. Wondang and Gwacheon Equestrian Park were filled with crowds from 19 to 30 September. The equestrian sports were broadcast to the Korean public and the rest of the


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world on TV. I saw Princess Anne once again at the Main Stadium during individual jumping on the ground between the obstacles and fences. She seemed to be satisfied with the equestrian competition at the Seoul Olympics.

Organising basketball in Korea was easy. We had Jamsil Gymnasium, where the World Women’s Championships had been held. Many tournaments, both domestic and international, had been organised in Korea, which is one of the world’s top basketball countries. I had no problem in getting an agreement signed with my colleague Boris Stankovic on schedules for the event. He was not worried at all; all he ever said was that Korea was very experienced and there would be no problem. The fight was more on the domestic front.

Park Shin-ja, the basketball coordinator, wanted to change the electronic scoreboard to meet IBA standards. SLOOC was against spending US$1.25 million. Its idea was to use the existing board twice to report the full roster for each team. I pressed hard for changes, and Park got what she wanted. Another battle by our heroine Park was with NBC, which wanted its commentators on the floor. The commentators’ position was never on the floor; Park assigned them the first row of audience seats. She prevailed. Silver medallists in LA, the Korean team did not end up qualifying in the upper bracket. The USSR and the US always put on good matches and split the gold medals between them – the USSR on the men’s side and the US on the women’s. The Korean women’s team was promising with Kim Hwa-soon and Park Chan-sook but failed to reach the finals. One month later, they won against China and took the Asian title in Hong Kong.

Volleyball, which is very popular in Korea, encountered a few more problems with FIVB. Although the previous president Libau had agreed to Saemaul Sports Hall and the Hanyang University Gym as volleyball competition sites, the new president Ruben Acosta and his wife – who saw the way that volleyball was rising in the world – never liked those


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sites, especially after the Asian Games. One idea was to have the finals in the Main Stadium, but that was vetoed. Acosta wanted a better gym with at least 15,000 to 20,000 seats. We investigated Busan as a possible host for the full volleyball competition, both men’s and women’s. Busan was already going to be the site for the yachting and football preliminaries. The gym was good, but the training and warm-up sites were not ready, and live television coverage would require additional cabling and cost. Busan was vetoed. The only solution we could work out was to increase the Hanyang University gym’s seating capacity to 12,000 and have the men’s Final on 2 October at Jamsil Gym. The women’s final was to be on 29 September, but it was impossible to schedule it at Jamsil Gym because basketball was on.

Acosta wanted a few large suites at the Sheraton Walker Hill Hotel, and those were taken up by visiting heads of state. We had to devise a three-room combination suite as his workplace. We added some more rooms for use by the FIVB. I had already moved some FIFA rooms from a lesser-known hotel to Walker Hill at the request of Joseph Blatter, but I had to help Acosta because he had his congress and his elections. There were some student demonstrations at Hanyang University, but they were resolved early enough that they did not hamper competition. Once Samaranch and I were getting ready to visit volleyball from the Main Stadium, but we had to cancel our trip because there was a report about a student demonstration. There were complaints by operational personnel about their treatment. Acosta called me up once to complain about our protocol officer. Later I heard that Acosta wanted to bring his friends to the Royal Box, but the protocol officer opposed this in accordance with IOC rules. Apparently the protocol officer told Acosta that ‘this was Korea’ and that things had to ‘be done the way Korea wants’. I had to work through channels to calm him down.

The US and Soviet again split the gold medals. The Soviet women beat Peru, headed by Korean manager Park Man-bok, whilst the US men beat


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the Soviets for the gold. For the Soviet women, it was their fourth gold since 1968. For optimal TV exposure, lighting was very important. The basketball events needed more light on the floor, whilst volleyball needed more light from above. We checked and upgraded the lighting to 1200 lux in all of the gyms. Shooting wanted live TV coverage, but that was impossible. We provided TV monitors at shooting lines, which was rare. However, Park Seh-jik helped Olegario Vasquez at an extra cost of 50 million won.

Rowing is a sport which requires tremendous preparation. Thomas Keller, the long-time president of FISA, is regarded as a most difficult man. At Baden-Baden, he was GAISF president and ran the Olympic Congress side-by-side with Samaranch. Later he got into a dispute with the IOC over who was the leader of the Olympic Movement and sports in the world. I took over the GAISF presidency from him in 1986 after I was elected to the IOC. He was regarded as tough and difficult at both Montreal and Los Angeles, but he was not difficult at Seoul. He was also president of Swiss Timing. He did not demand that Seoul construct an expensive rowing course. He and I visited one projected site along the Han River on the way to Gimpo International Airport. It would cost a lot to remove the mud and dirt, and he was against it. We then visited Asan Bay on a stormy day. SLOOC was pushing Keller to accept Asan Bay. Later he told me the idea was good but that it was too far away and had no infrastructure. Onyang was too far away from the competition area. Before his departure, he suggested finding a lake to save on construction costs. In those days many business groups were trying to get approval for rowing projects with an eye toward future business projects. Seoul could not find a proper lake near Cheongpyeong or Chuncheon and went ahead with Misari for rowing and canoeing.

At Baden-Baden, we had a rowing federation, but it was still in its infancy. Keller came back several times to assist with the design of courses


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and to hold special courses to help our operational personnel. It is one of the few federations where the president himself acted as a frontline technical and operational official.

Coordinating competition dates between rowing and canoeing was a big job which included issues such as training hours and sites, scoreboards, boat transportation, training of operational personnel, placement of the press and even a public bus system to link Misari with public transport. I had seen full crowds and enthusiasm in Seoul, although Korea was nowhere near the top-ranking teams. The socialist bloc teams fared well, and many sports leaders were there. I went to one canoeing victory ceremony to award medals with Sergio Orsi, president of ICF. The Soviets won the gold that time. The rowing and canoeing course at Misari was completed in June 1986 – in time for the Asian Games – but we had to change the water once a year to avoid contamination and water quality degradation. The 1986 Asian Games rowing and the 1987 Seoul Canoe International Regatta were the two most important dry runs to train operational personnel and inspect all areas of preparations, including facilities, in advance of the Seoul Olympics.

Misari had a capacity of 25,000. The training site at Hail-dong was 5 kilometres away from the regatta course and had six lanes. It took one month to change the water at a cost of 30 million won. In view of the special nature of the rowing and canoeing site, Olympic Family seats were approached flexibly. To keep the seats full, 10,000 free tickets were distributed to neighbourhoods and some Korean dishes were prepared. The competition starting time was changed just once – from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on 23 September – due to stormy winds. All coordination with the public, press and broadcasting took place on time. There were 561 operational personnel. I went out to Misari on 25 September for the closing reception. Keller and everybody there were very happy. After that Keller had his work as Swiss Timing president.


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First Olympic Medal in Gymnastics

Organisers must organise competitions well, but they also have to nurture sports to produce medals for the public. Gymnastics was not a sport where Korea had accomplished much in terms of medal standing. The Korean team had never qualified at the World Championships or won medals. FIG was very helpful, and Korea really did organise a good competition – even producing a gold medal in the Asian Games and its first medal, a bronze, in Olympic gymnastics. It was expected that it would be very difficult to reach an agreement with Yuri Titov on an early afternoon finals schedule, but the exact opposite was the case. I had to see him and Max Bangerter several times because Titov had to consult with the Technical Committee, but he was reasonable. He truly was a sportsman. We had something of a barrier because he was from the USSR, but we got beyond it.

On their first visit to Seoul he and Bangerter were very impressed with the efforts Seoul was making. The gymnastics hall was still under construction. They appreciated the friendly reception and Korean culture. They even visited Kukkiwon to watch demonstrations of taekwondo, which is similar to gymnastics in some of its movements. Titov later came back with Vice Minister Kolezov in July 1987 as a member of the Soviet delegation in his capacity as USSR secretary general. He and Bangerter helped a lot with the Asian Games.

The real organisational capabilities of SLOOC, however, were honed through the International Gymnastics Competition at the new gymnastics hall between the Korea and Soviet teams in July 1988. We invited Japan too, but they could not come. It had taken two years to figure out how to do it. Six cameras had to be used to cover the floor, uneven bars, vault and balance beams all at once if necessary. Due to special silicon roofing, the hall was too bright and the ceiling had to be shaded for broadcasting. A total of 242 athletes and 143 officials participated in 15 events from 18


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to 30 September. Also taking part were 117 referees and judges. Romania and China did not do as well as expected. The competition between Elena Shushunova of the Soviet Union and Daniela Silivas of Romania ended in victory for Shushunova. Aurelia Dobre ended up in sixth place. Both the men’s and women’s teams from the Soviet Union were victorious. Romania placed second in the women’s competition, whilst the GDR came in second in the men’s competition and Japan finished third. The big surprise was Korean Park Jong-hoon from Korea National Sport University, who finished third in the vault and became the first Korean to win a medal in Olympic gymnastics. In total, the Soviets won 12 gold, five silver and four bronze; Romania three gold, three silver and two bronze; the GDR one gold, three silver and four bronze; and Bulgaria one each gold, silver and bronze. China, Korea and Japan each had one bronze; Hungary had one gold and one bronze. A total of 875 operational personnel worked in the gymnastics competition. The total budget was 467,916,000 won.

Two large Electro Impex electronic scoreboards were used along with six Longine chief referee scoring machines and two Longine referee scoring machines. Also used were 26 telephone lines, 260 interphones, 20 pagers, two fax machines and 10 walkie-talkies. The inter-gym broadcasting equipment included 42 amplifiers, 13 mixers, 255 speakers and eight microphones. Four on-air CATVs, 16 CATVs, three lines and six CIS were on hand. A total of 5,500 members of the press and broadcasters visited the gymnastics hall, and nine official press conferences were attended by 681 media personnel. Every day more than 12,000 spectators filled the gymnastics hall. Visiting VIPs included 218 from the IOC, 96 from IFs, 315 from NOCs, 165 from Category Gv and 338 from Category Gs, 655 from Category B and 516 from Category C. Four hundred twenty people received medical treatment and 34 doping tests were conducted. We set up 15 training sites and scheduled training hours for each team both at the training site and at the gymnastics hall. On 21 September, one Israeli


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athlete who was scheduled to compete at 11 a.m. as part of the mixed team requested to be allowed to compete at 8.30 p.m. for religious reasons. He was asked to compete at 11 a.m. according to the FIG rules or else abstain. The Israeli NOC threatened to withdraw the whole team if his request was not met. The FIG president consulted with the women’s technical delegate to have the competition results processed by hand. These sorts of threats are a form of bad practice that has now come up on several occasions.

The Electro Impex scoring machine frequently malfunctioned but could not be fixed until July 1988 during the International Gymnastics Tournament between the Soviet Union and Korea. We were forced to bring in Swiss Timing at a cost of US$250,000 to interface both Electro Impex and Swiss Timing. I must express my appreciation to the operational personnel, who had to return home very late on several occasions because events ended after midnight. Official training for women was held 11 and 14 September. The women’s team competition ended at 12.05 a.m. on 19 and 21 September. Recording personnel, press room personnel, interview personnel, doping control personnel and transportation personnel in particular usually finished work at 2 or 3 a.m. only to have to return before 9 a.m. for the next day’s work. Nevertheless, they still arrived on time to do their jobs.

SLOOC had to acquire more than 25,000 essential operational personnel, including its own staff, support personnel, volunteers, short-term employees and contract personnel. The committee had to train them, send them overseas to learn and have them participate in pre-Games and championships to gain experience. Operations were divided into four stages. The first stage was to establish plans; the second stage involved deployment on the ground; the third stage involved inspection of operations; and the fourth and final stage had to do with the operation and management of the Games. The first stage, from July to December 1987, involved the formulation of Games management by commission members and higher. The second


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stage, from January to March 1988, involved the formulation of division deployment plans by commission members and higher for two days a week. The third stage, from April to August 1988, was for the deployment and calling up of manpower and inspection of facilities by key personnel (commission members on a permanent basis and key personnel on a three-day-per-week basis). The fourth and final stage, from September to October 1988, was for management of training sites and management of the Games by all personnel on a permanent basis.

Training of management personnel continued from January 1987 to December 1987 and involved on-the-job training of key personnel by function. Specialised personnel were trained from July to December 1987; they included announcers, recording personnel and line referees. The first preliminary dry run exercise was from September to December 1987 for members of the competition department and some of the support personnel. General orientation was held for all personnel from January to February 1988. On-the-job training by function took place from March to July for personnel in the Competition Support and Control Department. The final preliminary dry run was from July to August – by sport and division in July, and as a general exercise for all personnel in August. SLOOC wanted to be ready before the Asian Games and before the end of 1987. The remaining months in 1988 before the opening of the Games were for addressing any shortcomings and correcting mistakes.

The pool at Jamsil Seoul Sports Complex was used for swimming during the Asian Games, providing SLOOC with some experience and even producing a Korean women’s swimming heroine in Choi Yoon-hee. At the same time, it was quite outdated and small. A new, modern swimming pool was opened in Olympic Park in April 1988 with President Roh Tae-woo and Samaranch in attendance. The facility had a 10,000-person capacity and was designed for swimming, some water polo and synchronised swimming. Jamsil Pool was for water polo and diving. SLOOC sent personnel many


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times to the FINA Congress and FINA events. One advantage to Olympics organisation is the absolute cooperation with International Federations. Robert Helmick and I saw eye to eye on many things. I had to go to Indianapolis and Madrid to attend FINA Bureau meetings, and I went to see Helmick in Des Moines twice. We had to work out FINA schedules to meet TV demands without sacrificing the athletes or tradition. Helmick helped me by putting diving in the morning and swimming finals in the morning and evening. He even offered to provide training programmes and technical cooperation. At the opening of the new swimming pool at Olympic Park, the synchronised swimming pre-Games were also staged. A total of 976 athletes – 619 men and 357 women – from 80 countries participated in four swimming disciplines, 38 events in all. A total of 1,491 people, including 959 volunteers, served as operational personnel. Twenty countries won medals, with the GDR claiming 11 gold, eight silver, and nine bronze and the USA 10 gold, 10 silver, and six bronze. Asia received only one gold, for Japan. Eleven world records and 34 Olympic records were set. Kristin Otto of the GDR won six gold medals and was also awarded the Paeksang Crown, which had been established by the Hankook Ilbo media group in memory of late IOC member Chang Key-young. It was a huge operation, with two swimming pools used for four disciplines. The new swimming pool drew many members of the press, which resulted in space problems. All of the facilities proved to have excellent competition spaces but not enough additional space available. The Technical Commission was finally forced to solve some of the problems – such as athletes’ seats at Olympic Park and non-slip mats at Jamsil Pool – from its arrival on 10 September until just before the start of competition.

FINA Bureau members requested access to all competition areas, but the IOC category for federation bureau members allows a maximum of 20 each for FINA area; this problem was never resolved. The same sorts of problems occurred with all 23 Federations. SLOOC had to replace a


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key manager three months before the Games, but this resulted in better cooperation with FINA. A total of 23,620 media people were present at the swimming competition, with 10,911,000 won spent in all. Thirty telephones, 195 interphones, four fax machines, 38 radios and 27 walkie-talkies were used. Some 2,000 results for swimming, 990 for diving, and 500 for water polo and synchronised swimming were distributed to VIPs, the Sub Press Centre, press deck officials, SIB FINA, TSC/TWPC/TSSC, the Competition Department, the situation room and the command room. A total of 173,256 spectators attended the swimming competition.

Four hundred eleven people received medical treatment, with 4,348 VIPs attending and 183 doping tests conducted.

The 50m freestyle swimming event, which had been newly introduced for both women and men, was a success and was later added to the programme of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The following is a description of how participants in the swimming competition spent their day: Two hours before the event, athletes and coaches would enter the swimming area (accreditation confirmed). Thirty minutes before, they would arrive at the call room and have their call-up confirmed and submit their AD Card to the guide. Three minutes before, they would be escorted to the deck. After the competition, they would leave the deck, receive their AD Card, collect their belongings from the clothes custodian, move to a warm-up site to loosen up and return to the athletes’ seats or to the Olympic Village. Four technical delegates contributed much to improving our preparations through written communication after their visit to the Seoul International Diving and Synchronized Swimming Tournament in June 1988. Their concerns were all corrected before the Games. Harm Beyer of the FRG, who had been a technical delegate for synchronised swimming, recalled, ‘I was worried in June at the time of the International Diving and Synchronized Swimming Tournament, but we didn’t have much to do with our free time by the time the Games started because all the problems had been corrected.’ Swimming


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at the Seoul Olympics was another success.Football competitions were held at six stadiums in five cities from 17

September to 1 October. Sixteen teams participated with 103 officials and 312 athletes, but the qualification tournament had 115 countries out of 158 FIFA members participating. The drawing was held on 8 June by FIFA president Joao Havelange. Seven out of 30 referees were Korean. The event would contribute to the development of local fevers in Seoul, Daegu, Busan, Gwangju and Daejeon. The competitions proceeded punctually, and transportation of teams and officials to and from various competition areas went off without any problems. Our cooperation with FIFA was superb. The USSR, Brazil, the FRG and Italy finished in first through fourth place. The Korean team qualified for World Cup football for a second time, and Korea is now considering an application to FIFA to host the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

The wrestling competition was held in the military camp at Sangmu Gymnasium, with 212 competitors from 52 countries participating in Greco-Roman and 257 competitors from 64 countries in freestyle. The USSR won eight gold medals, whilst the USA, Japan and Korea won two gold medals each. Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy and Norway each won one gold.

After the Asian Games, the Korea Wrestling Federation insisted that the gym was too far away, had no infrastructure and was unlikely to attract spectators. It also insisted that the floor was too small for three mats and the seating capacity of 3,000 was too low. On this basis, FILA wanted to move to another gym or have a new one constructed. SLOOC said that it would increase the seating capacity to 5,000 and improve the infrastructure and transportation plan, which Milan Ercegan agreed to. During the competition the venue was full every day despite the location in the outskirts. One time the route to the gym was blocked by student demonstrators. The coordinator for wrestling thought there should have been at least one alternate route to


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arrive there. Tennis and table tennis were two new sports at the Seoul Games. A

tennis court was built in Olympic Park. The final was a marquee matchup between Steffi Graf and Gabriela Sabatini, with Graf ultimately going on to capture her Golden Slam. Tennis had returned to the Olympics in Seoul after being absent since 1924. It was a test for the pros, and it worked out fine.

Table tennis was held at Seoul National University, which was sometimes worrisome because of student demonstrations. It ended up being a sports competition between China and Korea. Choi Won-suk, president of Korea Table Tennis Association for the last 12 years, had really built up the Korean women and men, and the result was four gold medals split equally between China and Korea. On 22 December 1989, table tennis stars Ahn Jae-hyung of Korea and Jiao Zhimin of China started their married life together in Seoul amidst the blessing of many friends and well-wishers.

After 16 days of glory, the Seoul Olympics finally closed with the extinguishing of the sacred flame on the evening of 2 October. The members of the Olympic Family bid farewell to each other, pledging to meet again in Barcelona in four years. The Korean delegation, led by Kim Jip (later Minister of Sports), finished fourth in the medals tally behind the USSR, GDR and US, winning 12 gold, 10 silver and 11 bronze medals.

The Korean national sport of taekwondo was adopted as a demonstration sport for the first time at the Seoul Olympics. Men’s and women’s demonstration events in eight classes were successfully held over a four-day period starting on 17 September at Jangchung Stadium. After the taekwondo demonstrations at the opening ceremony, the magnificence of taekwondo had become a subject of international praise. Since the competitions took place next to the Shilla Hotel at Jangchung Stadium, many IOC members and other VIPs attended and/or awarded medals.

Korea’s national sport of taekwondo has achieved in just 20 years


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what other sports took 50 or 100 years to achieve. In the past, sports were exported from the West to the East – but this has been a sport exported from the East to the West. The first successful example of this was judo; the second has been taekwondo. Taekwondo has kept developing under a framework of four visions: adoption as a national sport, globalisation, leading in the promotion of national prestige, and leading in the defence of the country. Major milestones have included the construction of the Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters) in 1972, the founding of World Taekwondo Federation in 1973, admission to GAISF in 1975, admission to the international military sports council (CISM) in 1976, approval by the IOC in 1980, adoption at the Pan-American Games in 1983, a debut at the Asian Games in 1986, and finally adoption as a demonstration sport in the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Taekwondo has now grown into a great martial arts sport with 12 million practitioners in 120 countries around the world.

It has also been adopted as a demonstration sport at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. In accordance with IOC rules, Basque pelota and roller hockey had already been adopted as demonstration events for the Barcelona Olympics. But with the help of Samaranch and the Barcelona Olympics Organising Committee, taekwondo achieved an exceptional adoption as a third demonstration sport. As of 1996 demonstration sports are scheduled to disappear from the Olympics; like all sports, taekwondo continues to make strides towards the Olympics. The achievement of this ultimate goal will only be made possible through the focusing not only of efforts by taekwondo practitioners to develop it into a sport enjoyed by the entire world, but also of support from the government and sports community at the national level and of political influence by the IOC.


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Issues for Korean Sports

As the 16th country to host the Olympic Games, South Korea succeeded in setting the Olympics back on the right track. Korean sport is at a point in the world now where it can only move forward. Rather than settling for the second or third spot at the Asian Games as it did in the past, Korea needs to have a vision towards 2000, recognising its profound responsibilities within a broad spectrum of activities.

We need to seriously examine and consider such issues as how to maintain the competitive capabilities that we showed by placing fourth in the Seoul Olympics medal count; how to develop elite sports in Korea; how to devise outstanding plans for our facilities, talents and funding to create opportunities to develop public physical education; and which international competitions we should be hosting to best develop sports whilst boosting national prestige.

Already our neighbour Japan has hosted or will host the 1990 Tokyo IOC session, 1991 International Athletics Championship and International Table Tennis Championship, 1993 International Skiing Championship, 1994 Asian Games and 1995 Fukuoka Universiade Games. It is also planning to bid for the 1998 Winter Olympics and 2002 FIFA World Cup. It is developing long-range plans that span the next 100 years as it works to ensure athletes’ training and funding sources.

Korea must now also consider how to nuture talents and create an environment where athletes can become coaches, coaches can become supervisors, supervisors can become international referees or presidents of international federations, and IOC members can be produced from among them. No longer can we simply depend on a budgetary subsidy of 20 billion won from the national government; Korea’s increased economic might should be mobilised and funding raised through international marketing efforts, with support provided for symposiums and academic research as


171

well.In addition, our national interest requires efforts toward developing

other prospective IOC members and toward having our traditional sport of taekwondo adopted as an Olympic event, thereby helping to establish our culture within the wider context of international culture and history. In accordance with the IOC Charter and rules, it is about time for the KOC to be separated from the KSC and made independent of the government, thereby allowing it to engage in sports diplomacy more actively to achieve practical results. This seems to be within reach, as the National Sports Promotion Foundation has amassed a fund of approximately 400 billion won.

These goals can only be achieved through a vision that involves determination, wise decision-making, planning and the pursuit of goals and unity. Only then can Korean sport be confident of maintaining its status as a global sports powerhouse.


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The Best Games Ever- A Bumper Crop of Records -

At the Seoul Olympics, 241 sports stars were born. Although the expected number of gold medals had been 237, four additional golds were awarded in gymnastics due to their being seven co-winners.

The results of the Games are listed below in terms of new world records, multiple medal winners, and overall medal standing of participating countries.

New World Records (33)

Sports Events Name (Country) New Old

Swimming (11) (Men)

200m Freestyle Duncan Armstrong (AUS) 1:47.25 1:47.44

400m incl. Medley Tamas Darnyi (HUN) 4:14.75 4:15.42

200m incl. Medley Tamas Darnyi (HUN) 2:00.17 2:00.56

400m Freestyle UWE Dassler (GDR) 3:46.95 3:47.38

800m Freestyle Relay USA 7:12.51 7:13.10

400m Freestyle Relay USA 3:16.53 3:17.08

400m Medley Relay USA 3:36.93 3:38.28

100m Backstroke David Berkoff (USA) 54.51 54.91

50m Freestyle Matthew Biondi (USA) 22.14 22.23

(Women)

200m Breaststroke Silke Hoerner (GDR) 2:26.71 2:27.27

400m Freestyle Janet Evans (USA) 4:03.85 4:05.45

Athletics (4) (Women)

200m (S-Final) Griffith Joyner (USA) 21.56 21.71

200m (Final) Griffith Joyner (USA) 21.34 21.71

Heptathlon Joyner-Kersee (USA) 7291 7215

4x400m Relay URS 3:15.18 3:15.92


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Sports Events Name (Country) New Old

Weightlifting (11)

52kg (Snatch) Sevdalin Marinov (BUL) 120kg 119.5kg

52kg (Total) Sevdalin Marinov (BUL) 270kg 267.5kg

60kg (Snatch) Naim Suleymanoglu (TUR) 150.5kg 150kg

60kg (Snatch) Naim Suleymanoglu (TUR) 152.5kg 150kg

60kg (Clean & Jerk) Naim Suleymanoglu (TUR) 188.5kg 188kg

60kg (Clean & Jerk) Naim Suleymanoglu (TUR) 190kg 188kg

60kg (Total) Naim Suleymanoglu (TUR) 341kg 335kg

60kg (Total) Naim Suleymanoglu (TUR) 342.5kg 335kg

110kg (Snatch) Yuri Zakharevitch (URS) 205kg 203.5kg

110kg (Snatch) Yuri Zakharevitch (URS) 210kg 203.5kg

110kg (Total) Yuri Zakharevitch (URS) 455kg 452.5kg

Shooting (3) M/Rapid Fire Pistol Afnasi Kouzmine (URS) 698 697

W/Air Pistol (Prelim.) Nina Saloukvadze (URS) 390 389

W/Air Pistol (Final) Jasma Sekaric (YUG) 489.5 489

Archery (2) W/50m (Prelim.) Kim Soo-nyung (KOR) 336 335

W/Ind. (Final) Kim Soo-nyung (KOR) 1,352 1,338

Cycling (2) Team Pursuit (Prelim.) AUS 4:16.32 4:17.71

Team Pursuit (Final) URS 4:16.10 4:16.32

Multiple Medal Winners

Name Country Event

Six-Gold MedallistKristin Otto

GDR W/Swimming

50m Freestyle

100m Freestyle

100m Backstroke

100m Butterfly

400m Medley Relay

400m Freestyle Relay

Five-Gold MedallistMatthew Biondi USA M/Swimming

50m Freestyle

100m Freestyle

400m Medley Relay




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Name Country Event

Four-Gold MedallistVladimir Artemov

URS M/Gymnastics

Team CompetitionIncl. Combined Exercises

Parallel BarsHorizontal Bar

Three-Gold MedallistDmitri Bilozertchev

URS M/GymnasticsTeam Competition

Pommel HorseRings

Three-Gold MedallistDaniela Silivas

ROM W/GymnasticsFloor ExercisesBalanced Beam

Uneven Bars

Three-Gold MedallistJanet Evans

USA W/Swimming400m Freestyle800m Freestyle

400m Individual Medley

Three-Gold MedallistFlorence Griffith Joyner

USA W/Athletics100m200m

400m Relay

Medal Standing

Country Gold Silver Bronze

1 USSR 55 31 46

2 German Democratic Republic 37 35 30

3 United States of America 36 31 27

4 Korea 12 10 11

5 Federal Republic of Germany 11 14 15

6 Hungary 11 6 6

7 Bulgaria 10 12 13

8 Romania 7 11 6

9 France 6 4 6

10 Italy 6 4 4

11 People’s Republic of China 5 11 12

12 Great Britain 5 10 9

13 Kenya 5 2 2

14 Japan 4 3 7

15 Australia 3 6 5

16 Yugoslavia 3 4 5

17 Czechoslovakia 3 3 2

18 New Zealand 3 2 8

19 Canada 3 2 5


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Country Gold Silver Bronze

20 Poland 2 5 9

21 Norway 2 3 0

22 Netherlands 2 2 5

23 Denmark 2 1 1

24 Brazil 1 2 3

25 Finland 1 1 2

25 Spain 1 1 2

27 Turkey 1 1 0

28 Morocco 1 0 2

29 Portugal 1 0 0

29 Austria 1 0 0

29 Surinam 1 0 0

32 Sweden 0 4 7

33 Switzerland 0 2 2

34 Jamaica 0 2 0

35 Argentina 0 1 1

36 Senegal 0 1 0

36 Netherlands Antilles 0 1 0

36 Chile 0 1 0

36 Virgin Islands 0 1 0

36 Peru 0 1 0

36 Costa Rica 0 1 0

36 Indonesia 0 1 0

36 Iran 0 1 0

44 Belgium 0 0 2

44 Mexico 0 0 2

46 Thailand 0 0 1

46 Mongolia 0 0 1

46 Pakistan 0 0 1

46 Greece 0 0 1

46 Philippines 0 0 1

46 Colombia 0 0 1

46 Djibouti 0 0 1

Total 241 234 264


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Operation Personnel(By Operation Unit)

Total Language Sports Medical Administration Clerk Technology Spectator Service Culture Access

Control

Total 49,712 5,891 4,019 1,546 6,623 2,142 3,020 22,749 717 3,005

Subtotal 25,209 1,670 3,993 836 2,843 679 1,876 11,203 83 2,026

Swimming 1,343 136 175 52 90 46 72 635 1 136

Cycling 975 52 478 27 89 14 54 185 0 76

Gymnastics 765 37 314 35 107 28 39 136 0 69

Fencing 476 46 37 20 28 17 26 247 0 55

Tennis 635 42 268 16 59 9 50 131 0 60

Weightlifting 380 36 72 17 68 33 30 85 0 39

Wrestling 611 32 208 21 33 34 96 123 0 64

Hockey 621 33 114 26 77 25 51 231 0 64

Rowing 426 48 85 21 37 18 32 150 0 35

Canoeing 340 24 65 0 36 9 1 174 0 31

Handball 443 30 69 31 73 12 49 134 0 45

Judo 378 45 47 17 41 17 29 245 0 36

Taekwondo 391 31 78 0 66 19 22 132 1 43

Athletics 4,024 166 359 73 270 92 382 2,422 0 259

Basketball 644 41 118 36 47 4 43 296 1 59

Boxing 893 89 31 36 50 33 57 538 0 59

Football 0

(Seoul) 628 27 82 18 93 12 37 290 0 69

(Busan) 568 31 64 21 78 8 18 278 0 70

(Daegu) 678 48 20 35 102 12 11 380 0 70

(Gwangju) 700 55 28 30 137 14 29 350 0 57

(Daejeon) 721 61 24 29 122 41 50 317 0 77

Table Tennis 591 39 151 26 107 15 53 134 1 65

Volleyball 960 70 156 43 88 33 85 370 0 115

Shooting 696 34 320 14 29 48 116 87 7 41

Archery 612 40 69 25 58 9 89 252 0 70

Baseball 664 31 116 18 33 24 38 361 0 43

Equestrian 1,364 80 212 87 269 11 219 413 1 72

Modern Pentathlon 480 29 115 5 32 22 16 239 0 22


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Yachting 2,839 237 11 57 467 10 70 1,811 71 105

Bowling 137 0 38 0 14 5 12 49 0 19

Badminton 126 0 69 0 43 5 0 8 0 1

Subtotal 16,347 3,560 20 494 1,980 1,090 758 7,355 429 661

Village 5,056 1,204 0 30 656 562 98 2,258 51 197

Village Hospital 369 44 0 225 16 10 53 13 0 8

Press Village 2,354 491 0 34 272 129 36 1,329 0 63

Torch Relay 156 11 0 3 18 0 0 122 0 2

Art Exhibition 68 18 0 9 25 3 0 13 0 0

Cultural Event 789 117 6 9 125 18 1 499 9 5

HQS Hotel 1,785 662 0 21 170 28 178 539 0 187

Family APT 651 107 0 22 21 9 5 449 0 38

Accreditation 525 52 0 0 110 54 76 224 0 9

Press (MPC) 1,295 285 0 16 198 81 168 494 0 53

TV (IBC) 1,041 253 0 19 110 87 99 428 0 45

Airport Reception 648 230 0 36 95 18 20 237 0 12

Youth Camp 457 67 2 17 41 13 22 260 0 35

Opening & Closing Ceremony

1,153 19 12 53 123 78 2 490 369 7

Subtotal 8,156 661 6 216 1,800 373 386 4,191 205 318

MOC 205 6 0 0 170 3 4 21 0 1

Transportation 3,722 214 0 0 150 164 75 2,921 0 198

SIC 374 149 2 0 34 53 92 44 0 0

VOC 550 0 0 0 46 16 2 280 205 1

Other 3,305 282 4 216 1,400 137 213 925 0 118

MOC: Main Operation CentreSIC: Sports Information CentreVOC: Victory Ceremony Operation Centre


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Athlete Participation by Sport

ClassificationPreliminary Final Entries AD Cards Issued

Men Women Total Men Women Total Men Women Total

Official Sports Archery 111 90 201 88 64 152 85 62 147

Athletics 1,741 930 2,671 1,190 616 1,806 1,148 579 1,727

Basketball 216 156 372 144 96 240 144 96 240

Boxing 617 617 448 448 442 442

Canoeing 321 87 408 252 72 324 243 71 314

Cycling 500 71 571 403 62 465 391 64 455

Equestrian 210 67 277 144 59 203 138 59 197

Fencing 272 85 357 251 70 321 247 70 317

Football 380 380 317 317 314 314

Gymnastics 106 151 257 103 146 249 99 142 241

Handball 180 121 301 180 119 299 180 120 300

Hockey 208 144 352 192 128 320 192 128 320

Judo 333 333 256 256 250 250

Modern Pentathlon 93 93 83 83 79 79

Rowing 546 300 846 467 220 687 450 210 660

Shooting 329 123 452 293 115 408 294 115 409

Swimming 822 541 1,363 605 347 952 599 345 944

Table Tennis 88 53 141 84 50 134 82 49 131

Tennis 131 71 202 88 48 136 81 48 129

Volleyball 156 120 276 144 96 240 143 96 239

Weightlifting 351 351 260 260 245 245

Wrestling 553 553 463 463 446 446

Yachting 453 57 510 414 53 467 402 54 456

Demonstration Sports

Baseball 180 180 160 160 161 161

Taekwondo 135 57 192 121 63 184 120 65 185

Women’s Judo 60 60 53 53 53 53

Wheelchair Race 8 8 16

Total 9,032 3,284 12,316 7,150 2,477 9,627 6,983 2,434 9,417


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Athlete Participation by NOC

NationsPreliminary Entries Final Entries AD Cards Issued Extra

OfficialsAthletes Officials Total Athletes Officials Total Athletes Officials Total

Afghanistan AFG 5 3 8 5 3 8 5 2 7

Netherlands Antilles AHO 6 6 12 3 5 8 3 4 7

Algeria ALG 53 30 83 45 22 67 46 22 68 4

Andorra AND 6 5 11 3 3 6 3 2 5

Angola ANG 62 18 80 29 16 45 29 15 44

Antigua ANT 32 17 49 18 12 30 16 15 31

Argentina ARG 140 65 205 126 52 178 125 52 177 5

Aruba ARU 7 9 16 8 8 16 8 7 15 1

American Samoa ASA 18 8 26 6 5 11 6 6 12

Australia AUS 305 110 415 298 105 403 295 104 399 47

Austria AUT 118 58 176 96 51 147 88 49 137 10

Bahamas BAH 29 14 43 17 8 25 17 10 27

Bangladesh BAN 7 5 12 6 3 9 6 1 7 1

Barbados BAR 26 20 46 17 14 31 17 13 30

Belgium BEL 73 46 119 67 41 108 65 39 104 6

Benin BEN 11 8 19 7 3 10 7 2 9

Bermuda BER 32 18 50 13 13 26 13 12 25

Bhutan BHU 3 4 7 3 3 6 3 3 6 1

Burma BIR 2 5 7 2 4 6 2 3 5

Belize BIZ 11 7 18 10 6 16 10 4 14

Bolivia BOL 6 6 12 7 6 13 7 5 12

Botswana BOT 9 6 15 8 4 12 8 2 10

Brazil BRA 220 72 292 173 67 240 171 65 236 14

Bahrain BRN 22 13 35 17 11 28 11 10 21

Brunei BRU 1 1 1 1 6

Bulgaria BUL 283 79 362 194 65 259 186 63 249 30

Burkina Faso BUR 11 8 19 6 2 8 6 2 8

Central African Republic CAF 16 11 27 16 11 27 16 10 26 3

Canada CAN 536 207 743 383 118 501 379 122 501 67

Cayman Islands CAY 10 6 16 8 6 14 9 6 14 1


180



People’s Republic of

CongoCGO 8 5 13 9 5 14 9 2 11

Chad CHA 20 6 26 6 5 11 6 2 8 1

Chile CHI 12 5 17 18 10 28 18 10 28 2

People’s Republic of

ChinaCHN 293 138 431 292 88 380 292 87 379 52

Ivory Coast CIV 38 38 34 21 55 32 20 52

Cameroon CMR 14 14 28 15 10 25 15 8 23 7

Cook Islands COK 7 4 11 7 4 11 7 4 11

Colombia COL 57 53 110 50 34 84 43 30 73 3

Costa Rica CRC 36 36 72 16 13 29 16 14 30 6

Cyprus CYP 14 7 21 10 6 16 9 5 14

Denmark DEN 195 78 273 88 53 141 92 52 144 4

Djibouti DJI 8 8 16 8 6 14 7 5 12

Dominican Republic DOM 18 9 27 16 8 24 16 6 22

Ecuador ECU 20 14 34 15 14 29 16 16 32

Arab Republic of Egypt EGY 64 26 90 55 28 83 54 31 85

El Salvador ESA 9 9 18 6 6 12 6 5 11 2

Spain ESP 272 110 382 275 94 369 269 94 363 36

Fiji (Islands) FIJ 33 15 48 24 12 36 24 10 34 1

Finland FIN 175 73 248 109 53 162 79 49 128 3

France FRA 379 195 574 308 107 415 309 110 419 80

Federal Republic of Germany

FRG 538 127 665 408 125 533 404 132 536 79

Gabon GAB 5 3 8 3 3 6 3 2 5

Gambia GAM 18 9 27 7 7 14 7 4 11

Great Britain GBR 431 188 619 370 118 488 369 135 504 71

German Democratic

RepublicGDR 370 99 469 288 86 374 282 90 372 58

Equatorial Guinea GEQ 6 2 8 6 3 9 6 3 9

Ghana GHA 25 13 38 19 13 32 18 13 31 2

Greece GRE 107 49 156 58 31 89 58 34 92 3


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Grenada GRN 6 4 10 6 4 10 6 2 8

Guatemala GUA 45 39 84 30 18 48 30 20 50

Guinea GUI 6 8 14 8 5 13 8 4 12

Guam GUM 28 19 47 20 17 37 20 16 36 4

Guyana GUY 16 7 23 8 4 12 8 3 11

Haiti HAI 4 3 7 4 2 6 4 1 5

Hong Kong HKG 66 27 93 49 26 75 49 24 73

Netherlands HOL 244 112 356 193 81 274 192 79 271 16

Honduras HON 13 5 18 8 5 13 8 4 12

Hungary HUN 278 88 366 220 73 293 203 71 274 27

Indonesia INA 41 32 73 31 26 57 31 25 56 4

India IND 70 39 109 53 31 84 46 27 73 35

Ireland IRL 135 55 190 68 41 109 65 38 103 1

Iran IRN 31 14 45 29 16 45 27 14 41 2

Iraq IRQ 50 32 82 35 18 53 31 17 48 5

Iceland ISL 33 17 50 32 19 51 32 18 50

Israel ISR 20 27 47 19 19 38 19 18 37 5

Virgin Islands ISV 39 30 69 29 21 50 26 21 47 5

Italy ITA 392 200 592 313 98 411 286 95 381 53

British Virgin Islands IVB 7 6 13 3 2 5 3 3 6 1

Jamaica JAM 43 21 64 35 19 54 35 16 51

Jordan JOR 11 7 18 9 5 14 9 4 13

Japan JPN 304 105 409 288 103 391 288 101 389 60

Kenya KEN 84 26 110 76 30 106 76 27 103 8

Korea (Republic of) KOR 471 136 607 467 136 603 467 173 640 89

Saudi Arabia KSA 15 17 32 14 9 23 14 9 23 5

Kuwait KUW 62 26 88 36 22 58 31 18 49 10

Laos LAO 10 5 14 8 2 10 6 1 7

Libya LBA 9 15 24 6 6 12 6 9 15

Liberia LBR 10 7 17 8 5 13 8 7 15 1

Lesotho LES 5 5 10 6 5 11 6 3 9

Lebanon LIB 26 17 43 22 16 38 21 15 36

Liechtenstein LIE 15 12 27 12 10 22 12 9 21

Luxembourg LUX 12 9 21 8 7 15 8 6 14 1


182



Madagascar MAD 7 5 12

Malaysia MAL 12 16 28 13 10 23 13 11 24 9

Morocco MAR 56 38 94 28 17 45 27 21 48

Malawi MAW 28 9 37 17 8 25 17 6 23 1

Maldives MDV 6 4 10 7 5 12 7 2 9

Mexico MEX 206 82 288 91 53 144 91 49 140 6

Mongolia MGL 32 17 49 28 17 45 28 12 40

Mali MLI 20 10 30 6 6 12 6 5 11 1

Malta MLT 11 6 17 9 5 14 9 4 13

Monaco MON 11 12 23 9 12 21 9 8 17

Mozambique MOZ 33 10 43 10 8 18 8 5 13

Mauritius MRI 27 11 38 8 6 14 8 5 13 1

Mauritania MTN 9 9 7 5 12 6 3 9 1

Nepal NEP 20 11 38 18 14 32 18 13 31 1

Nigeria NGR 153 42 195 75 29 104 76 32 108 20

Papua New Guinea NGU 22 8 30 12 10 22 12 9 21

Niger NIG 8 9 17 8 5 13 8 6 14 1

Norway NOR 105 51 156 79 42 121 79 40 119 19

New Zealand NZL 128 46 174 93 9 152 93 55 148

Oman OMA 14 21 35 13 10 23 13 10 23 3

Pakistan PAK 55 22 77 32 22 54 31 15 46 7

Panama PAN 9 14 23 8 4 12 6 3 9

Paraguay PAR 23 17 40 8 8 16 10 7 17 2

Peru PER 23 21 44 21 15 36 22 16 38 2

Philippines PHI 35 40 75 33 27 60 33 28 61 9

Poland POL 270 78 348 153 57 210 152 54 206 20

Portugal POR 100 42 142 69 34 103 68 31 99 7

Puerto Rico PUR 72 47 119 71 37 108 70 36 106 8

Qatar QAT 18 12 30 14 10 24 12 9 21

Romania ROM 126 46 172 75 38 113 64 21 85 2

Rwanda RWA 10 4 14 6 2 8 6 1 7

Western Samoa SAM 14 6 20 11 8 19 11 6 17

Senegal SEN 50 26 76 24 15 39 22 16 38 8

Singapore SIN 12 13 25 8 9 17 8 8 16


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Sierra Leone SLE 23 13 36 19 12 31 15 4 19 1

San Marino SMR 23 9 32 11 11 22 11 8 19 1

Solomon Islands SOL 10 6 16 7 5 12 7 2 9

Somalia SOM 10 7 17 7 5 12 7 6 13

Sri Lanka SRI 6 6 12 6 5 11 6 1 7 2

Sudan SUD 8 4 12 8 5 13 8 2 10

Switzerland SUI 141 73 214 111 62 173 109 59 168 9

Surinam SUR 7 9 16 6 7 13 6 6 12 4

Sweden SWE 254 128 382 206 77 283 205 77 282 38

Swaziland SWZ 11 6 17 12 8 20 11 8 19 1

Syria SYR 26 17 43 16 9 25 16 8 24

Tanzania TAN 17 11 28 10 7 17 10 6 16 9

Czechoslovakia TCH 186 62 248 172 60 232 171 54 225 22

Tonga TGA 11 7 18 6 3 9 6 1 7 1

Thailand THA 27 14 41 20 17 37 16 16 32 2

Togo TOG 9 4 13 6 4 10 6 3 9

Chinese Taipei TPE 91 52 143 89 41 130 90 41 131 11

Trinidad and Tobago TRI 30 11 41 6 7 13 6 6 12

Tunisia TUN 45 21 66 42 21 63 41 23 64 1

Turkey TUR 51 26 77 49 25 74 50 25 75 5

United Arab Emirates UAE 14 9 23 12 7 19 12 6 18

Uganda UGA 27 9 36 25 9 34 25 9 34

USSR URS 625 159 784 518 137 655 514 141 655 192

Uruguay URU 44 37 81 15 16 31 14 15 29 2

USA USA 639 169 808 612 160 772 615 165 780 158

Vanuatu VAN 4 5 9 6 2 8 6 1 7

Venezuela VEN 41 29 70 19 15 34 18 15 33

Vietnam VIN 11 4 15 10 6 16 10 3 13

St. Vincent & Grenadines VIE 18 4 22 7 3 10 7 2 9

Yemen Arab Republic YAR 17 19 36 12 8 20 11 7 18

Yemen Democratic

RepublicYMD 6 2 8 6 4 10 6 2 8


184



Yugoslavia YUG 220 71 291 169 67 236 157 67 224 3

Zaire ZAI 22 14 36 18 12 30 18 9 27

Zambia ZAM 43 17 60 31 11 42 31 12 43 1

Zimbabwe ZIM 42 16 58 30 12 42 31 9 40

Total 12,316 5,177 17,493 9,627 3,999 13,626 9,417 3,887 13,304 1,529


185

Communication Equipment by Place

Places Subscriber Telephone

(Circuit)

Interphone (Circuit)

Direct Telephone

(Circuit)

Telephone Receiver

SwitchboardFax

System Volume

Archery 14 6 4 152 1 85 2

Athletics 46 100 42 805 1 668 22

Basketball 18 4 156 2

Boxing 17 16 4 157 1 8 2

Canoeing 14 2 106 1

Cycling 36 7 221 3

Equestrian (Seoul Equestrian Park) 13 32 4 435 304 3

Equestrian (Wondang Ranch) 23 1

Fencing 7 7 147 2

Football (Seoul) 23 16 4 162 1 84 3

Football (Daejeon) 13 16 2 151 1 65 2

Football (Daegu) 15 16 2 151 1 102 2

Football (Gwangju) 13 16 2 151 1 78 2

Football (Busan) 14 16 1 151 1 93 2

Gymnastics 28 90 9 331 1 729 2

Handball 11 16 3 152 1 93 2

Hockey 17 16 5 155 1 96 2

Judo 10 22 8 152 1 113 2

Modern Pentathlon 16 34 84 1

Rowing 16 28 154 1 163 3

Shooting 16 16 4 154 1 104 3

Swimming (Olympic Indoor Swimming Pool)

20 5 148 3

Swimming (Jamsil Indoor Swimming

Pool)11 5 157 2

Table Tennis 15 22 4 154 1 2

Tennis 18 3 156 2

Volleyball (Hanyang Univ. Gymnasium) 20 16 4 170 1 104 2

Volleyball (Saemaul Sports Hall) 14 16 3 170 1 84 2

Weightlifting 16 3 158 2


186


(Circuit)


Direct Telephone

(Circuit)

Telephone Receiver

SwitchboardFax

System Volume

Wrestling 12 16 5 151 1 90 2

Yachting 12 24 4 253 1 150

Taekwondo 8 2 30 1

Baseball 15 3 151 2

Badminton 7 20 1

Bowling 20 1 26 1

Opening/Closing Ceremonies

Operation Unit24 2 72 2

World Arts Festival Operation Unit 2 1

Olympic Village Operation Unit 36 210 41 1,650 1 1,475 9

Press Village Operation Unit 46 14 505 5

Transportation Operation Unit 71 50 104 1

Headquarters Hotel 193 32 51 405 1 136 7

Olympic Family Town 39 4 42 1

Accreditation Operation Unit 24 15 92 15

Broadcasting Operation Unit 23 30 14 303 1 197 4

Reception Operation HQs 44 43 125 6

Press Centre 31 78 16 787 1 385 4

Youth Camp 9 20 2 151 1 110 1

Village Medical Centre 3 14 5 151 1 81 4

Medical Support Centre 2 19 1

Logistic Distribution Centre 21 4 22 1

Uniform Distribution Centre 1

Victory Ceremonies Operation Centre 4 1

IF Technical Official Guide HQs 11 1 18 74 1


187


(Circuit)


Direct Telephone

(Circuit)

Telephone Receiver

SwitchboardFax

System Volume

Lodging Quarters for Key Operation

Personnel21

PR and Press Support Centre 4 4 26 2

Data Operations 3 5

Korea Exhibition Centre 4 4 22

Technical Support Unit & Secretariat 50 80 63 581 1 943 10

Main Operation Centre 27 68 8 4

Busan Office 14 2 1

Daejeon Sub-Village 14 1

Daegu Sub-Village 12 1

Gwangju Sub-Village 12

Culture & Arts Operations 15

Youth Cultural Facilities 5

Language Support Unit 8

Training Sites 1,789 1 (Reserve)

Total 1,340 991 598 12,767 27(1) 6,540 192

After concluding a contract for Seoul Olympics television broadcasting rights with NBC (1986)

Chapter 8

Television Rights


190

TV Rights for Sports Development Funding

The development of television means that it is no longer a spectator but one of the main organisers of the Games. The Olympic Games are staged as part of the Olympic Movement, but they must be covered and presented to the whole world through electronic media.

In recent years, the television broadcasting rights have become a major source of funding for the Olympic Games as well as sports development. This trend started with CBS paying US$50,000 for television rights to the 1960 Winter Games in Squaw Valley. NBC paid US$1.5 million for the Tokyo Olympics, whereas ABC paid US$25 million for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Even this amount was not especially impressive, as the Montreal Organising Committee had to pay US$25 million to prepare the broadcasting centre.

The Los Angeles Organising Committee surprised the world by negotiating a contract with ABC for US$225 million. This impressive figure was followed by the 1984 Calgary Games, which were negotiated with ABC for US$309 million.

The Battle for US Dollars

Based on this past rate of increase, the Seoul Olympic Organising Committee expected to receive US$500 or US$600 million. What SLOOC did not realise was that the US did not have a large enough advertising market to produce US$800 or US$900 million for the broadcasting of what at the time were two Games in one year. The market situation was poor; CBS and ABC were facing takeover bids. In addition, the time difference between the US and Korea was 14 hours, which meant that live coverage during prime time hours in the US would be difficult. Prime time was from

Chapter 8 Television Rights

191

8 p.m. to midnight New York time. Also preying on the minds of television network executives was uneasiness about another potential boycott by socialist nations, as well as both internal and external terrorist threats.

TV negotiations could not begin until the competition schedules had been worked out with the IFs. An OCOG alone cannot organise the Games. Its success depends upon cooperation among the IOC, IFs, NOCs, mass media and business community in addition to the dedication of the individuals involved.

Whilst SLOOC and its consultant TWI were playing with figures in the range of US$500–600 million, the IOC believed SLOOC would be getting a good deal if the TV rights were sold for US$400 million.

The announcement by Barry Frank of TWI of the final morning schedules for major sports stirred up trouble among the IFs. The time schedules had to be accepted by the respective IFs. SLOOC secretary general Cho Sang-ho went to Canberra to explain SLOOC’s position at an IAAF Council meeting, but without success. Helmick of FINA adjusted some finals to achieve a better balance between the evening and morning schedules, for example by putting diving in the morning session. Titov of FIG and his technical committee moved some finals ahead to midday. Athletics was the most difficult to adjust, because the athlete’s condition and tradition had to be considered alongside the demands of SLOOC and broadcasters.

The official TV rights negotiations started at the Lausanne Palace Hotel on 12–13 September 1985. Our delegation consisted of Pound, Lee Young-ho, Park Se-young and me. We met with representatives from each network. At CBS we were offered a flat US$300 million by Neil Pilson. ABC’s Roone Arledge offered US$225 million plus an additional guarantee by ESPN, for a maximum of US$135 million. NBC’s Arthur Watson offered two proposals: a flat US$325 million or US$300 million plus up to US$150 million more if advertising sales exceeded US$637.5 million – a


192

so-called ‘risk-sharing system’.These offers surprised the SLOOC delegates, who were expecting an

initial offer of over US$500 million. I knew that there was no market to warrant US$500 million. After all, ABC had paid US$225 million for Los Angeles, which was in the same time zone and boasted tremendous marketing potential.

The TV rights to the Olympic Games are the property of the IOC, and our negotiations would not work without IOC’s consent. I remembered the experience of Peter Ueberroth, who had reached an agreement with an Italian commercial network to sell rights for US$7 million. But his contract ended up being cancelled because IOC had to grant the rights to EBU – which offered a broadcasting network spanning 36 countries – in order to achieve maximum exposure.

I was caught between Korea’s national pride and the cold reality of a maximum market price. Despite my lengthy explanations in which I pointed to exhaustive studies of competition schedules, IBC facilities, past TV rights fees and conditions for cooperation, the networks would not agree to increase their offers.

Tug-of-War with NBC

CBS and ABC were in quite a weakened state as they awaited takeovers by the Tisch family and Capitol Corporation, but NBC was a strong contender. The network, which had sent Alex Gilady, Jarobin Gilbert and Richard Holbrooke to Seoul many times for ground work, was enthusiastic but very cautious. The last thing NBC wanted was to lose money. It had bad memories of the Moscow Games, which the US had boycotted, forcing the network to withdraw. Even after insurance pay-outs, NBC lost US$30 million through the Moscow boycott.


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I helped Lee Young-ho propose a cash offer to Watson of US$350 million plus US$150 million. Watson did his best with RCA, and Samaranch even called the SLOOC president to instruct Lee to accept the market price, but neither strategy worked. For SLOOC, which was seeking US$500–600 million, a figure like US$350 million was unacceptable. After their experience with Moscow, RCA and NBC in New York were so cautious that Watson could not get approval to raise the offer from US$300 million to US$350 million. Finally, both sides agreed to schedule a meeting in New York in two weeks’ time. SLOOC had other things to consider besides the market situation, including domestic public opinion and Oriental face-saving.

In those days, NBC and other networks had annual budgets of US$2 billion. In addition to paying US$300 million for TV rights, they would have to pay US$300 million for production, US$75 million for equipment, brokerage fees for advertising, insurance and profits. They also had to fight for time with premieres, television series, the World Series, musicals, NCAA and NBA basketball.

We returned home to find public opinion very sour. Lee was quite optimistic; he thought that postponements would drive up the price. But the exact opposite occurred.

The second negotiations took place at the TWI office at East 71st Street in New York. ABC and CBS held firm in their positions – and without much enthusiasm. NBC discovered it was the only serious bidder in Korea. There was pressure to reject the offer for the sake of national pride, despite the counter pressure from the IOC. After thinking the situation over, I decided that it would be best to work out a compromise that balanced both public opinion and the need to generate substantial income. I proposed to NBC a US$300 million guarantee plus US$200 million on a risk-sharing basis, for a total of US$500 million. If the market situation improved, US$500 million would still be a possibility, although I thought it was less


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than probable. TWI even proposed the idea of syndication to us, but that idea was dropped because the IOC would not approve and it would be difficult to sell enough production to reach US$300 million.

But the negotiations were about more than the US$300 million. A complete break, with no US TV coverage of the Games, would adversely affect negotiations elsewhere and lower the prestige of the Games. Failure to compromise with NBC could also fuel calls for a change of site and impact the safety of the Games.

NBC accepted our proposal the next day. At 8 p.m. that evening, a joint press conference was held at Westbury Hotel with Pound, Lee, Watson and me to announce the decision to grant the TV rights for the Seoul Olympics to NBC for a guaranteed US US$300 million with an additional US$200 million on a risk-sharing basis, for a total of US$500 million. Most of the media only reported the US$300 million portion of the agreement. I thought we had ushered the Seoul Games another step forward by having NBC on our side. For better or worse, SLOOC and NBC were now partners, and they had to work together to produce the best coverage of both the Olympic Games and Korea. The next morning I flew to Canberra, Australia, to attend the World Cup of Athletics.

But more difficulties would confront us in the course of contract negotiations, and it would take four months of talks before a contract was finally signed on 26 March 1986. Nobody anticipated a draft contract patterned on the agreement with Calgary would take four months. This was the interpretation of TWI and the SLOOC Business Department.

Soon it was learned that negotiations were not moving as quickly as expected because of the complicated nature of the talks and the demands of NBC, which wanted to protect its rights from all possible angles. Business director Park Se-young resigned to go into his own garment business, and legal counsel Don Petroni did not have the authority to make a major decision. Somebody had to take on the job. Since I had been involved in


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talks with the IFs and in TV rights negotiations as chief negotiator (although Lee Young-ho had been handling matters directly), I was asked to sort out the problems and sign the contract.

On my way to New York aboard a Korean Air flight, I read a three-inch-thick draft contract to prepare myself. I had to become a diplomat, lawyer and television expert. For all of my negotiations, I took along Kim Byung-il, director of TV rights, who had been detailed to SLOOC from the Economic Planning Board. When I arrived at the NBC offices at Rockefeller Centre, I met with Pound, Petroni, Barry Frank and Betsy Goff. The NBC side included Ken Schantzer, Jeff Coken and four lawyers from the Cahill Gordon law firm. Occasionally Watson came in to make threats or dangle carrots prior to a critical decision.

Repayment conditions were a key issue in the negotiations. NBC had experienced bad luck with the Moscow Olympics, and the last two Games had suffered from boycotts; now NBC wanted to protect its position for every eventuality. Repayment terms would go into effect if the Games were cancelled, postponed, or not held around Seoul. The biggest hurdle was the letter of credit to be issued by Korea Exchange Bank in the amount of US$330 million to cover full repayment, which could be automatically triggered by NBC. Over 16 days of negotiations from 11 to 26 November 1985, none of these terms were agreed to. No agreement was reached on the conditions for reducing the rights fees in case of non-participation by the Soviet bloc, which would considerably reduce the value of the Games; the auditing of advertisement sales; mediation procedures; the use of a composite logo; and requirements for free space. It was understandable that NBC would seek a letter of credit instead of insurance, which would have been difficult for the network to obtain – but its actions were unprecedented and not received favourably by SLOOC or the Korean government.

Not long afterwards, some of these issues were intentionally leaked to the Seoul press by SLOOC secretary general Lee Ha-woo. NBC was furious,


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as the terms of the contract were supposed to be confidential. The Korean public was furious about the unprecedented demands from NBC. Many in government circles were adamantly insisting that Korea did not need the US$300 million; they claimed that Korea could make an international signal and broadcast on its own.

The request for a letter of credit (L/C) was taken as an insult to Korea. As it involved both the Korea Exchange Bank and the Ministry of Finance, nobody could make a decision. Plus, Park Seh-jik had only just taken over as Minister of Sports. I went to the Blue House and explained the situation to President Chun Doo-hwan for one hour. Clearly the President was not happy. At one point, I thought that he would tell me to call off the deal and broadcast the Games at our expense. After I sweated through an hour-long conversation in which we verbally sparred over the smallest points, he gave me the go-ahead for the L/C. President Chun gave me full responsibility to finish the contract in New York. Happening just before the final negotiations in March, this was an important moment for the Seoul Olympics.

The IOC advised SLOOC to issue a letter of credit to NBC so that the contract could be completed and work could begin. The IOC’s reasoning was that the only real problem would be security. If the L/C was triggered in the event of a disaster or war, it would not really matter. Barcelona also awarded an L/C to NBC following our precedent.

I visited Samaranch in Madrid in December 1985 to seek his assistance. I was ready to recommend to SLOOC and the Korean government that the L/C be accepted, but I asked him to intervene and have the amount of the L/C reduced by eliminating some unwarranted items. He immediately called NBC and urged them to accept my position.

I was invited to the palace of HM King Juan Carlos for a dinner. Samaranch presented the Olympic Order to King Juan Carlos. I had had to find a shop to prepare a tuxedo; Samaranch, surprised to see me so well-prepared on such short notice, asked me where I had found it. I was


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impressed with King Juan Carlos and his beautiful Queen, who later came to the Seoul Games with the Crown Prince.

NBC postponed negotiations until after the New Year. I started another round of negotiations in New York from 13 to 30 January. The same issues were discussed, again without much progress. Final negotiations began on 17 March in New York. Agreement was reached on a wide range of items, including production of an international signal, free space in the IBC, parking spaces, free and purchasable tickets, auditing of advertisement sales, repayment conditions, methods of notification for repayment grounds, terms and scope of reduction, equipment damage not attributable to NBC’s own actions, non-broadcasting in cases where US teams were not participating, schedules of repayment and reductions, taxes, arbitration and court proceedings. NBC was afraid that a contractual provision stipulating the introduction of Korean heritage and development might lead to a Congressional inquiry, but Watson, in a letter, accepted my proposal to do so.

At one point, Watson walked out of the negotiations and Pound became very angry. Problems concerning the composite logo by sponsors were always a big issue with the USOC lawyer, Coca-Cola and Anheuser Busch. We were scheduled to leave for Geneva on Flight SR 111 on the evening of 24 March to sign the contract in Lausanne on 26 March. But up until the last minute, we were unsure about whether we should leave because of NBC’s threats to cancel their plans if the issue of the composite logo was not resolved.

In a ceremony at 12.40 p.m. at the IOC Headquarters at Chateau de Vidy, Samaranch and Count Beaumont signed for the IOC, I signed for SLOOC and Watson and Walsh signed for NBC. The signing of the contract was followed by a luncheon organised by Samaranch at the Lausanne Palace Hotel. NBC hosted a dinner at the restaurant Grappe d’Or in the evening.

I was relieved to see the contract with NBC signed after the four months


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of hard negotiations. This marked a new phase for the Seoul Games and set the stage for later negotiations with other regions. NBC, SLOOC and the IOC started to work as partners in preparing the maximum, widest-reaching coverage of the Games. Both SLOOC and NBC left Chateau de Vidy believing that the other had been the loser. But Watson, Walsh, Schantzer, Eskridge and Gilady would all become good friends as they worked towards the Games. After the negotiations, I surprised the Cahill Gordon lawyers by revealing that my elder daughter Helen had worked at their firm as an associate one summer. She is now a qualified lawyer, having passed both the New York and California bar examinations.

Following the success with the NBC contract, I negotiated with all of the major networks for the Seoul Games, bringing in a total of US$408 million. The IOC President also gave me the job of negotiating TV rights for Barcelona, Albertville and Lillehammer alongside Richard Pound. Additionally, I took over the chairmanship of the IOC Radio and TV Commission after Lance Cross retired.

In exchange for the L/C, I had received a letter of guarantee from RCA. Some people in Seoul questioned whether it made any difference and whether it would be effective, but Deputy Premier Kim Man-je assured everyone that it was a good idea. As Samaranch predicted, the L/C was never triggered. I asked NBC to pay interest on the overdue payment of the rights fees at the US bank prime rate – US$2.2 million for four months. NBC proposed a US court, and we proposed a Seoul court under Korean law. A Swiss court would not be acceptable because the IOC was located there. We settled on London under English law. Anything worth less than US$2 million in damages was out of the question. In the end, we never had to go to court; we both decided that it would be better to settle the disputes beforehand.

NBC agreed to give Korean KBS stations in the US the right to broadcast the Olympics. Initially, NBC opposed this idea because it worried


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about a similar request from Barcelona. After some discussions, it finally agreed to allow broadcasting for four hours a day by five KBS stations in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

One of 10 major auditing firms, Arthur Young was selected to audit the sales of NBC. It was difficult to differentiate Olympic sales from general sales. In the end, there was no reduction or repayment, nor any additional payment of rights fee from risk-sharing either. NBC did a good job of covering the Seoul Games as well as Korean culture and development. Watson said that NBC had made a substantial profit, and the payment took place on time. NBC brought many advertising sponsors, engineers, commentators and corporate executives to Korea.

They ended up spending much more than the rights fees, and TV rights fees would in fact increase after the success of the Seoul Games. An explosion in the market and four years of inflation both contributed.

I had to explain to the Korean public many times that TV rights involved more than just the TV rights fees themselves. The secondary effects were beyond measure. If Korea had bought 180 hours of live programming to promote its culture and image, it would have had to pay hundreds of millions of dollars. I also had to tell Koreans that pounding on the table does not necessarily result in higher TV rights. Those rights are calculated according to sales – from US$260,000 for a 30-second spot during prime time to US$1,000 at other times for some sports. In addition, there are factors such as profit margin, production fees, equipment, insurance and brokerage of sales activities. Still, it represented the single biggest financial resource and provided an image, publicity and a face for Korea and the Olympic Movement.


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Japan TV Rights Negotiations

Since opinion in Korea over the US TV rights negotiations had been so negative, we thought we had to somehow surpass Calgary, which was claiming that it had received more than Seoul. In the end Seoul received US$408 million, whereas Calgary received US$323 million and Los Angeles a little more than US$280 million. Japan TV rights were thus very important in terms of figures and the relationship between the two countries.

Soon after my return from Lausanne where I had signed the contract with NBC, I was visited by Keiji Shima of the NHK network. He started with a complaint. I knew why he was so upset; I had heard about a secret deal that had been reached on the Asian Games TV rights between Lee Young-ho, Lee Ha-woo and Yasuhiko Shimazaki of Shima Creative House in Tokyo. Shimazaki was an intermediary, not a broadcaster. He was connected with Yamanishi of TBS. The two Lees signed a paper with Shimazaki, who guaranteed US$1 million for the Asian Games rights and US$60 million for the Olympics TV rights. To prove his sincerity, he even paid US$500,000 up front for the Asian Games rights. It was to be kept confidential until a certain amount of time had passed. Although I was not involved in the deal, I knew that it would not work; it was impossible for a non-broadcaster to purchase Japanese TV rights and broadcast. I advised the two Lees to get a bank guarantee with 60 days’ notice. As I had expected, it was never produced. After Shima of NHK visited me, I moved to cancel the deal with Shimazaki for breach of agreement. I told Shima only that I would let him know when it would be a good time to negotiate with NHK and the Japan ‘pool’.

My first job was to find out what was going on. Lee Dong-kyun and Kim Byung-il of the TV Department shared my opinion, although they had to do the paperwork at Lee’s direction. I took Lee Dong-kyun to talk to


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Shimazaki and Kazuo Kinumura of TBS. I learned that Shimazaki would not be able to get help from the Japan TV pool and that TBS, according to Kinumura, did not even have the capability for Olympic broadcasting even if it purchased the rights for US$30 million. After examining the legal implications, I had SLOOC send an official notice of cancellation.

Richard Pound and I met with three Australian networks at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on 30 June 1986. Although TWI was talking about a figure of US$20–30 million, Channel 10 offered only US$5 million whilst Channel 7 was only interested in the Winter Games. The meeting broke down.

Afterwards I met Shima of NHK to discuss the Asian Games rights. Since I had cleared the SLOOC connection with Shima Creative House, Shima apparently felt that I was his direct counterpart. I learned a lot about his negotiations with Peter Ueberroth on Los Angeles, and he gladly settled at an amount of $750,000 for the Asian Games rights. Lee Dong-kyun was surprised that we had settled at US$750,000, as he thought I was ‘soft’ and expected me to settle somewhere around US$500,000. The total 1982 Asian Games television rights came out to US$250,000, including Japan and Korea. Clearing up any lingering issues and speaking heart-to-heart as partners helped us lay the foundation for a better relationship and bigger negotiations in the future.

NBC negotiations had triggered such an adverse reaction, both from the government and in the Korean private sector. In light of the special relationship between Korea and Japan in particular, the Japan TV rights negotiations were the centre of attention in Korea.

Any Korean negotiator was caught between public sentiments and actual market value. People did not care that Ueberroth had received only US$18 million for Los Angeles. Dentsu was also claiming the Japan rights were worth US$25–30 million; in IOC circles, people expected the figure to be around US$30 million.


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We had several meetings between the government and SLOOC. Everyone said the Japan rights should go for at least US$80 million. Hardliners typically talk a lot because they are not held responsible for the outcome. If we got a high figure, it would be attributed to them; if we settled too low, the negotiator was to blame.

I did my best, since the Japan deal was really my negotiation and I wanted to exceed the Calgary total. A positive arrangement with Japan also would help to improve understanding between the people of Korea and Japan. Samaranch entrusted me with full authority.

The first meeting took place in Seoul among me, Shima and Kyoichi Tokiwa of NTV. We gave many reasons why the Japan pool should pay more. Japan’s GNP was one-third of America’s, for one thing. Its TV viewing numbers were also a third as large. Korea’s time zone is the same as Japan’s, which put it in a more advantageous position than the US. Japan countered that the time schedule was actually disadvantageous because it had been adjusted to suit US prime time hours. Japan advertising sales were one-fifth of America’s, they explained, and NHK, which paid 80 per cent of the rights fees, had to operate through subscriptions. Both sides knew that this was all a compulsory exercise to go through. I knew we would end up in a compromise eventually. Japan had to coordinate the views of five commercial networks: NTV, Fuji, Asahi, TBS and TV Tokyo.

At the second meeting with the Japan pool in Seoul, Japan offered a total of US$40 million (US$30 million in rights fees and US$10 million for technical cooperation). At a separate meeting, I asked Shima to try to get the figure up to US$50–60 million, on the understanding that we would be lowering our proposal from US$70 million to something more reasonable. Before our third meeting in the NHK office in Tokyo on 7 November, we had a government-SLOOC meeting at the Plaza Hotel on 5 November. Everyone insisted I needed to get more than US$60 million dollars. Only Park Tae-joon of Pohang Iron and Steel, who is known as a bridge between


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Japanese and Korean business circles, knew we would not get more than US$50 million. But he did not press the point too much against all of the tough talk from the hardliners.

At the third meeting in Tokyo we proposed US$78 million, but Japan said it could not go over US$40 million. I met with Kobayashi, publisher of the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper and chairman of Nippon TV. All he said was that we should discuss matters and reach a compromise. I did not want any pressure to fall upon our Japanese counterpart. I went to see secretary general Noboru Takeshita of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). I also went to pay my respects to former Premiers Takeo Fukuda and Nobusuke Kishi, as well as Shintaro Abe and many LDP leaders.

The December meeting in Seoul brought no progress. I was waiting for public opinion and the bureaucratic hard line to soften. I made another trip to Japan on 2 January 1987.

The final negotiations took place in Seoul on 23–24 February 1987 at my SLOOC office. Shima and Tokiwa finally offered US$50 million, which was what I had been waiting for. I asked for a little more, and Shima finally added US$2 million for special cooperation from NHK to KBS. It was a gesture of his consideration of my position and the pressure on me to get more than US$50 million. He made it very clear this US$2 million was a special political consideration for me, and that he would engage in no further bargaining. I accepted the US$52 million package. Japan’s payment schedule called for half to be paid in 45 days and the rest in another 45 days. Compared with other payment schedules, which took effect after the Games in some cases, it was worth US$60 million. Japan did not place any hard conditions or terms on the contract.

The next morning, I went to see President Chun about another matter. President Chun brought up the deal and congratulated me on my success. I was relieved, because other people had been pressing me to get more than US$60 million, which was just not there. The Kyunghyang Daily saw two


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different reports, one saying the fee was US$52 million and another saying the fee was US$50 million plus special NHK technical cooperation worth $2 million. The newspaper published an article claiming that SLOOC was lying, but the NHK Seoul Bureau confirmed the total as US$52 million. People pick at such small matters.

Samaranch was impressed with my success. He might have thought that I would only get US$35 million. This was not only a question of rights fees but also a matter of national pride and sentiment. I was sure that this agreement would contribute to a better understanding of Korea among Japanese people and eventually to a better relationship between the two countries. I also think that is exactly what has been happening. That is what the Olympics and television can do.

I instructed my broadcasting bureau to provide the Japan pool with every form of support and assistance – from hotels and cars to free IBC space, camera positions, ID cards and more.

I went to see secretary general Takeshita of the LDP, who told me about how he had helped secure a tax exemption for donations by Korean residents in Japan. I later welcomed him at the Opening Ceremony of the Games as Prime Minister.

Some people have accused Japan of exploiting the Seoul Games to promote its own tourism, but I believe this partnership brought about a better understanding of Korea and more interest in the Seoul Olympics among the Japanese public. For the Japanese, the Seoul Games were like having their own. We also tried to learn lessons from their experiences with the Tokyo Olympics.

During the Games, NHK provided exclusive experimental broadcasting of high definition TV in Japan. NHK also plans to do experimental HDTV broadcasting in Barcelona. The days of commercial HDTV are coming, with Europe also developing its own HDTV system.

At Seoul’s Lotte Hotel on 23 September 1989, Richard Pound, Abad of


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Barcelona and I reached an agreement with Shima and Tokiwa on the Japan pool’s Barcelona TV rights, which amounted to US$62.5 million (US$57.5 million for the rights and US$5 million for NHK special cooperation). Earlier, TV rights for Albertville had been agreed upon with NHK in Paris at US$9 million.

EBU and OIRT TV Rights Negotiations

Due to the special circumstances prevailing in Europe, the European Broadcasting Union has always been the rights holder. Commercial networks are developing but are still only in the early stages, and the 36 member countries of EBU are supported by government-sponsored broadcasting networks. Therefore, the position of the IOC was that EBU must get broadcasting rights for the widest possible exposure and coverage of the Games.

Peter Ueberroth secured a deal for Italian rights with the Italian broadcaster Bernesconi for US$7 million, but this deal was rejected by the IOC, which is the exclusive owner of the Games and its TV rights. The EBU and OIRT deals were negotiated by the IOC President himself. EBU was awarded the rights for US$28 million, whilst the OIRT was to pay US$3 million. Bernesconi sent delegations to visit me with an offer of US$40 million. The next day I was surprised to receive a call from the IOC confirming that SLOOC would not negotiate with anybody except EBU. My colleague Dick Pound was always unhappy about this arrangement with EBU; he thought that EBU should pay more. Japan thought OIRT should pay more, with its 16 countries. There is always a conflict in views between earning maximum rights fees on one hand and gaining maximum exposure on the other. But as the Charter says, the Games should achieve the widest possible coverage.


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Because of these circumstances, the EBU negotiations were of more of a technical nature. Although EBU paid less than 10 per cent what NBC had, its demands were as great as NBC’s because it had 36 countries coming to broadcast the Seoul Games. EBU wanted free space at the IBC, parking spaces, rental cars, camera positions, equipment, accommodations, IDs and more. By 3 March 1987 an agreement had been reached at the SLOOC office. Lance Cross, then the chairman of the IOC TV Commission, came as a representative of the IOC. The official signing ceremony took place at the IOC headquarters on 18 March 1987. Just before we finished the EBU contract, an intermediary for Bernesconi filed a petition to the Cheong Wa Dae accusing Samaranch, me and SLOOC of reaching an agreement of US$28 million with EBU when Bernesconi had offered US$40 million. The petition claimed that accepting the lower offer went against the national interest of Korea. But the offer of US$40 million had never been official. Bernesconi did not understand that the TV rights are the exclusive property of the IOC and that the IOC President had negotiated with EBU personally for maximum exposure of the Games. Whilst EBU had networks in all 36 countries, there were only a few commercial stations in Italy and France. Once the US, Japan and EBU rights were settled, the rest of the negotiations with other regions apart from Australia were more or less political, and we did not necessarily aim for higher figures as long as we got more than Los Angeles or Calgary.

The OIRT negotiations were very important politically for Korea since we did not have diplomatic relations at the time with the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. Rights fees were not very important. With its 16 socialist members, OIRT offered a guarantee of the Games’ security as well.

Although the IOC President helped personally with the OIRT negotiations, I met Henrika Yushkevitch, the Soviet Vice Minister of the State Broadcasting Committee, on detailed cooperation matters. We had to


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be very careful not to divulge too much until the Soviet bloc had decided to participate in the Games.

The OIRT was preparing broadcasting operations with EBU, and was even checking on North Korea’s broadcasting system to prepare for the eventuality of North Korea organising some sports events and actually participating in the Seoul Games. The broadcasting systems are different, and nobody knew how everything could be done. Apparently it was going to be costly too.

Henrika Yushkevitch speaks fluent English and is a very nice person. Yushkevitch is in charge of broadcasting responsibilities when Gorbachev goes to summit meetings and attended every IOC TV Commission meeting apart from one that fell during the Reagan-Gorbachev summit in Reykjavik, Iceland. There were three meetings in June, August and November to discuss OIRT requirements. Originally we were to have signed by August, but we finally decided to move the date to December. The IOC sent out invitations to the NOCs on 17 September, and responses were due on 17 January. I knew by then that the Soviet bloc would participate in the Seoul Olympics. I could not go to Prague for the signing ceremony in December, but I agreed to travel there on 23 January. My visit to Prague provided me with an opportunity to learn about OIRT. Signing the contract with OIRT was also significant politically because it was the first such agreement with the socialist countries. The OIRT member networks were all supported by their governments. The contract thus marked the start of unofficial relationships with these countries through the Olympics. KBS tried to send crews to cover life and sports in these countries but was advised to move one step at a time and not take things too quickly. I never had any problem with broadcasters because I always treated them as partners and helped them to do their best, although I had to argue over higher figures at times. After the signing, Yushkevitch, Gafner and I toured OIRT operations headquarters and the beautiful city of Prague. Vladimir Cernusa was kind


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enough to attend the ceremony.

Negotiations with Other Regions

The Australia negotiations had broken off in Los Angeles in 1986, and we left the Australians in suspense each time we were approached. However, Channel 10 sent Frank Lowey and Bill McKenzie in January 1987, agreeing to A$10 million for the Australian TV rights. My colleague Kevan Gosper sent many telexes to me urging an early agreement. I flew to Sydney one day to sign a contract with Frank Lowey at the Westfield building. By then, many demonstrations were happening in Seoul, and I was asked many questions about safety in TV interviews. Australia helped KBS with its broadcast of the yachting programme in Busan. KBS was not experienced with yachting at all, and we had to provide yachts, helicopters and equipment to help cover the yachting. One yacht capsized during the Games; fortunately, no lives were lost.

General terms for OTI, the Latin American broadcasting union, were agreed upon at Lausanne during the Television Seminar on 25 April 1987, although the details would be worked out in Seoul in June with Amaury Daumas, secretary general of OTI. In Lausanne, he tried to apply pressure on me through the IOC President. I do not like it when people ‘pass the buck’ to Samaranch, who is someone we need to be shielding. Daumas soon learned that this would not work with me. Manolo Romero helped out, and I agreed to US$2.92 million. I did not fight over the size of the figure, as long as Seoul saved face and maximum coverage was assured. Daumas gladly accepted my request and agreed to pay US$10,000 for the Paralympics, which was actually a contribution.

In the case of the Asian Broadcasting Union (ABU), we negotiated with Hugh Leonard and Cas McEwen. The ABU – which has since broken up –


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included Japan, Australia, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and Hong Kong. I had negotiated once with Leonard on the Asian Games rights. Whilst I was in Istanbul for the 1987 General Session of the IOC, Leonard sent a cable that was quite impolite toward the IOC; in it he accused SLOOC of breaking Hong Kong away from the ABU. SLOOC had been asking HKTV to negotiate without receiving a positive response. Richard Pound said, ‘Tough.’ He explained that it was up to the IOC to decide with whom it would negotiate, and if anybody in Asia needed to negotiate TV rights for the Seoul Olympics, he would have to do it with me. That settled the question, and we agreed on US$1.5 million for the ABU rights in June 1987, although it took another six months to sign the contract. The unions are composed of many members who have different requests and wishes, which means that negotiations usually take time. ABU was important because China was a member and they were our Asian neighbours.

Hong Kong had two television networks, HKTV and ATV. ATV offered US$900,000 – three times more than what was paid for LA – but HKTV and ATV were entangled in a legal suit with each other. A Hong Kong court ruled that they both had to work together. For us, this meant the extra work of providing additional services later, but we willingly helped out. ATV also paid an additional US$50,000 for the Paralympics at my request.

After negotiations were completed with Taiwan, the Philippines, the Caribbean, ASBU and URTNA, I gave the domestic TV rights to KBS for US$3.45 million, the same as for Los Angeles. Barcelona COOB ’92 was paid US$25 million by Spanish television – what a contrast. Puerto Rico was separated from the NBC contract to help bring in additional rights fees of US$380,000, although I had to help it to secure the NBC signal through Eskridge. In exchange, we gave AFKN the right to broadcast for the US Armed Forces.

Canada was the last country in our negotiations, and a difficult one. In the absence of competition from another network, CBC insisted on US$3


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million. Its argument was that Canadians, as neighbours of the US, all watch US television. Pound got US$600,000 more from CBC as a gesture of cooperation; by getting CTV involved later, he closed the deal at US$4.8 million. It was signed at my SLOOC office on 31 May 1988, although we gave the network a chance to begin preparations for broadcasting long before the contract was actually signed. The actual signing happened just three-and-a-half months before the opening of the Games. Once TV rights negotiations were over, all efforts of the SLOOC Broadcasting Department were devoted to services for the broadcasters.

The Los Angeles TV rights had totalled US$288,343,000; the Calgary total was US$324,813,000. The Seoul TV rights came out to US$408,763,000, and the Seoul Olympics were broadcast in 140 countries by 227 networks.

Although I had to navigate between the IOC interest of securing maximum exposure, negotiating a high figure for SLOOC with maximum publicity in Korea, and producing the best broadcasting conditions for broadcasters, in the end we came out as partners in the Olympic Movement. The TV rights negotiations were important for the Games, for IOC, for SLOOC and for Korea. The TV rights were the single biggest source of income for the Games. When things are completed successfully, people tend to forget everything that came before. The Seoul Olympics, however, had had to contend with calls for a change in site, boycott threats and threats of invasion and terrorism. By establishing a working partnership with 227 networks in 140 countries, we laid the groundwork to show the Olympic Movement in action and present Korea before the world.

I had to struggle with domestic public opinion, which tends to see TV rights only in terms of money. It was about more than money: the world would see the Seoul Olympics and Korea live for 180 hours over the course of the Games, and before and after the event as well. If Seoul had to buy the equivalent number of hours for advertising, the cost would have been


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in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Former IOC President Lord Killanin once said, ‘Nowadays, there are five main bodies organising the Olympic Games: the IOC, the IFs, the NOCs, OCOG and TV. TV is no longer a mere spectator but an active participant.’

Our broadcasting capabilities would need to be improved. Exchanges involving TV personnel and sponsors increased dramatically. The fringe economic benefits to Korea from NBC and the Japan pool spending so much money toward production, insurance, equipment, transportation, hotel, rental cars, use of facilities, employment of local personnel, expenses for banquets and more amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. Local press reports gradually became more favourable, and TV rights and working partnerships with world broadcasters contributed to bringing about the most successful Olympic Games in Olympic history.

People do not understand how TV rights money is spent. The IOC makes sure it is all spent for sports. TV rights are the exclusive property of the IOC, and the IOC allocates 20 per cent of total TV rights fees as a TV installations allowance to the OCOG. In the case of Seoul, the IOC allocated US$125 million instead of 20 per cent to help Seoul. Two-thirds went to the IOC, which the IOC further divided into three parts, giving portions to the IOC, IFs and Solidarity Funds for NOCs. From this, IOC also paid transportation and lodging for 1,200 international referees, as well as transportation and lodging for eight officials and athletes per NOC, including US$8,000 for equipment plus US$500 cash for up to six athletes per NOC.

A total of 10,360 broadcasting personnel were registered from 57 countries and 131 broadcasting networks. Of these, foreigners numbered 6,204, including local staff. In all, 109 networks from 46 countries moved into the IBC, which had floor space of 22,156 pyeong (73,240 m2).

International signal hours totalled 1,543.74, with live productions accounting for 1,509.35 hours and summary for 34.39 hours; general


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production totalled 344.50 hours. A total of 14,900 personnel were used to produce international signals. Five hundred sixty-six vans and 2,293 cameras were used. There were 27 satellite circuits, with two satellites over the Pacific Ocean and three over the Indian Ocean.


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TV Rights Fees(1,000s of USD)

Region (Network) ’84 LA ’88 Calgary ’88 Seoul Additional

information ’92 Barcelona

USA (NBC) 225,000 309,000 302,110 401,000

Japan (SLOJP) 18,500 3,900 52,000 Rights fees 50,000 62,500

Europe (EBU) 19,800 5,700 28,000 Tech Spt 2,000 94,000

Australia (Net 10)

10,600 1,600 7,330 32,500

(A$10,000)

Hong Kong (HTV/TVB) 325 1,000

South America (OTI) 2,150 2,920 3,000

Asia (ABU) 975 278 1,500

East Europe (OIRT) 2,500 1,200 3,000 4,500

Caribbean (CBU) 99 130

Africa (URTNA) 110 170

Philippines (PTV4) 400 550

Taiwan (TTV) 300 875

Canada (CBC) 3,000 3,150 4,800 18,500

Arab (ASBU) 350 420

Puerto Rico (WAPA TV) 40 380

Korea (KBS) 3,500 3,450 (As of June 1990)

Subtotal 287,609 324,388 408,635Minimum

guarantee basis of USA NW

Other Income 734 425 128 NBC royalties, etc.

Total (Subtotal + Other Income) 288,343 324,813 408,763

(140 countries; 227 broadcasting

networks)


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NBC TV rights contract


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SLK21988-1

TAXMONT MTL

MARCH 31 1986

DR KIM UN YONG

RE NBC CONTRACT

DEAR MR KIM

PLS ACCEPT MY PERSONAL CONGRATULATIONS ON THE

VERY EXCELLENT WORK WHICH YOU ACCOMPLISHED IN

CONNECTION WITH THE NBC CONTRACT FOR US TELEVISION

RIGHTS. THE NEGOTIATIONS WERE MOST DIFFICULT, BUT WERE

CRUCIAL TO THE SUCCESS OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN SEOUL.

HAD THEY FAILED FOR ANY REASON, THE EFFECT WOULD HAVE

BEEN VERY NEGATIVE, BOTH ON A FINANCIAL LEVEL AND IN

TERMS OF WORLD PERCEPTION OF THE GAMES AT THIS TIME.

YOUR PARTICIPATION WAS MOST EFFECTIVE AND WITHOUT

YOUR PRESENCE I DOUBT THAT THE NEGOTIATIONS WOULD

HAVE BEEN CONCLUDED. I HOPE WE CAN NOW ALL WORK

TOGETHER TO MAKE THE PROJECT A TREMENDOUS SUCCESS.

ALSO, PLS EXTEND MY THANKS TO YOUR ASSOCIATES, AND,

IN PARTICULAR TO BYUNG IL KIM.

BEST REGARDS,

DICK POUND

CC JUAN ANTONIO SAMARANCH

SLOOC K21988-1

TAXMONT MTL

Awarding a Paralympic medal (1988)

Chapter 9

Cultural Programmes and Ceremonies


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Torch Relay

The Olympic flame is a symbol of the Olympics’ sacred ideals of breaking walls of race and various ‘isms’ through sports, reinforcing friendship and contributing to peace. The first Olympic torch was seen in the Amsterdam Olympics in 1928 – but the lighting of the torch at the Temple of Hera and carrying it by relay to the Main Stadium as it is done today started at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Each Olympics host city has developed its own means of transportation, many of which have attracted the attention of the world. The Olympic torch was extinguished by guerrilla attack at the 1948 London Olympics. Air transportation was used for the first time at the Helsinki Games; at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, Lorne Clark, an Australian long-distance runner, fell and injured himself whilst igniting the torch. At the Rome Olympics in 1960, the sailboat Amerigo Vespucci was used to transport the Olympic flame. At the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, 100,696 runners ran the 226,000-kilometre distance from Greece to Tokyo, and Yoshinori Sakai, who was born on the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, ignited the torch – thus reminding the whole world that the Olympic flame is a symbol of peace. At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, a woman was the runner for the first time in Olympic history. At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the Olympic torch arrived in just one minute via satellite, transmitted by laser beam from Athens to Ottawa, and a boy and a girl ran together to ignite the flame.

At the Moscow Olympics, the final runner was supported by a 500-member card section. At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the world was surprised at the sight of an oil pipeline connection to the torch stand for automatic ignition. Los Angeles had wanted to charge US$3,000 per kilometre run for the Olympics torch relay, but the idea was abandoned after it was criticised by the Greek NOC as ‘commercialism’. SLOOC

Chapter 9 Cultural Programmes and Ceremonies

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also received offers through Burson & Marsteller on several commercial proposals that could have brought in US$1 million, but I never tried hard with the IOC or the Greek NOC, knowing the position of my colleague Filaretos after the problems with Los Angeles.

There were several ideas. One idea, proposed by the late IOC member Park Jong-kyu, was to use the Silk Road from Athens. This was vetoed due to the great difficulties of securing permission from the countries the runners would have to pass through – especially North Korea. Another idea was to go through all the past Olympic host cities. The IOC thought SLOOC was being too idealistic and suggested that it would be impossible to get permission from a city like Moscow. Another idea was to use marine transport. This may have worked in 1964 for Tokyo, but it would not work in 1988. Using a laser beam was too simple and did not allow enough time and space to build up ‘Olympic fever’.

Finally, SLOOC decided to use air travel to Jeju Island for safer and faster transportation, combined with a land route aimed at building up Olympic enthusiasm at home which would be reported on worldwide through the media. One approach was to let NOC representatives run part of the route. The Greek people and Greek NOC were very enthusiastic about the ceremony. The sacred flame was lighted by solar heat at the Temple of Hera at 11 a.m. on 23 August, starting off a 380-kilometre torch relay that arrived at the Parthenon at 9.30 that evening. Traveling via Bangkok by Korean Air at an expense of US$500,000 to SLOOC, the torch arrived on Jeju Island on 27 August. A traditional festival and ceremonies were held in every city that the torch passed through or stayed in along the way. The torch relay was launched the next day, continuing for 22 days and 21 nights over a course of 4,116 kilometres. The total distance was 16,886 kilometres, with 4,168 kilometres of that in Korea. A total of 21,207 runners participated (20,855 Korean and 362 Greek).

Article 62 of the Olympic Charter states that there shall be only one


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Olympic flame, except by special leave of the IOC. It further stipulates that OCOG shall be responsible for the arrangements for bringing the Olympic flame from Olympia to the stadium and must observe the Olympic protocol. The Olympic flame may not be used as an occasion for advertising. SLOOC was always coming up with new ideas and wanted to have about five flames in the city of Seoul: one in the Main Stadium, one at Namsan Mountain, one in front of Seoul Plaza, one in Olympic Park and one at Yeouido’s 63 Building. I knew that similar things had sometimes been approved for the Winter Games, but I had never heard of five flames in any of the past Games, and I knew the IOC would never approve the plan in view of the sacred nature of the flame. On the other hand, I was also in a position where I had to help SLOOC. I went to the IOC and received approval for one more flame on top of the 63 Building, arguing that all of Seoul should see it at all times during the Games. The 63 Building had to build a special furnace on its roof.

The Main Stadium posed more of a problem. The torch stand was on the floor of the stadium at the southeast corner of the track and measured only 15 metres high. The stadium had been constructed by the city before the Olympic Games were awarded to the City of Seoul, and planners at the time never envisaged this situation. This torch stand had been used at the Asian Games in 1986, but soon after those games it emerged as an issue. There was an examination of whether Seoul should or would be able to put it at the centre, high up on top of the stand. In the meantime, the city of Seoul put a cover over the stadium, and it was no longer possible to place a torch stand there, as it would require breaking through this central cover. Even so, the Olympic flame had to be seen at a high place. It ended up having to be raised to a height of 22 m at the same place on the ground, with an elevator truck-stand used to elevate the people who would ignite the flame. The IOC was not happy about this but recognised that it was the only choice that SLOOC had available.


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Following the celebrations on Jeju Island, the Olympic torch started its zigzagging run through 62 cities, stopping in 21 of them as each staged a variety of folk events related to its regional characteristics.

The final runner attracted the biggest attention. Many people predicted that Sohn Kee-chung, the marathon gold medallist at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, would be the final runner. It was reported in Japan’s Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper that he had been seen practising on the stadium grounds. A last-minute decision was made to have Sohn run the torch into the stadium. The final runner would be Lim Chun-ae, a triple gold medallist at the Asian Games. There were three cauldron lighters: the Korean dancer Sohn Mi-chung, long-distance runner Kim Won-tak, and local school teacher Chung Sun-man. The selection of the three cauldron lighters came from the Oriental philosophy of ‘heaven, earth and human beings’. As the torch was carried through provinces and cities, the runners and spectators become part of the Olympics, helping to build up the Olympic fever. Sohn ran into the Main Stadium with the torch at 12.21 p.m. on 17 September and the cauldron was lighted five minutes later – to be kept alive until the Games concluded on the night of 2 October.

Additionally, 2,188 vehicles, 493 ships and 72 other transportation means were used. There were 16,623 escorts in addition to 21,207 torch runners, which included 113 Korean residents abroad and 226 non-Koreans.


The Opening and Closing Ceremonies are considered by some to represent the ‘pinnacle of the Olympics’. For the host countries, they are crucial events underscoring the official beginning and closing of an Olympic Games. SLOOC put its heart and soul into preparing for the Ceremonies so that they would be remembered as a setting for all mankind to share their


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emotions and feelings with Korean people. SLOOC had to strictly observe the rules and spirit of the Olympic Charter, and sought to harmonise the cultures and traditions of East and West by breaking down the cultural, racial and ideological barriers experienced by mankind today and creating common ground for all to experience exhilaration excitement and harmony within the time-honoured tradition of the Olympic Games.

Some foreign enterprises and public relations firms offered to help organise the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and the associated performances. SLOOC wanted more than a show, however. It envisioned a scenario for the performances that connected it with Korea’s philosophy of harmony among heaven, earth and people – overcoming all barriers through participation in the Seoul Olympics. Through the Opening Ceremony, which was to be the first event of the Seoul Games, the world was to become one.

Preparations for the Seoul Olympics started immediately after the success of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Asian Games. One immediate issue raised by the IOC President was that the ceremony should not be too long. The Opening Ceremony at Los Angeles had gone on for too long. The Asian Games athletes’ parade had included 27 countries, but a parade with 160 countries would prolong the ceremony; something had to be done to limit the parade time and cut some of the performances. The Opening Ceremony was attended by 7,970 VIPs, 8,344 athletes and officials, 4,356 media personnel, 13,051 performers and 40,036 spectators. In contrast, the Closing Ceremony was attended by 65,839 people in all: 7,970 VIPs, 5,107 athletes, 4,856 members of the press, 4,777 operational personnel, 3,093 performers and 40,036 spectators. Rules 60 and 66 and their associated bylaws had to be strictly observed, and all details had to be approved by the IOC. I remembered how US President Ronald Reagan had intended to deliver short remarks at the Opening Ceremony of the Los Angeles Games; he had ultimately been unable to do so and merely


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declared the Games open as the Charter stipulates.Our task was to abide by the Olympic Charter and precedent as we

worked to make the world one through harmony between East and West, Korean culture and world culture. Accomplishing this in a limited time was a difficult job for SLOOC and required help from every corner.

By 5 December 1986 – two months after the closing of the Asian Games – a draft script for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Seoul Olympics already had been published, and Opening and Closing Ceremonies Bureaus had been activated. A 33-member consultative committee of civic specialists was also formed. The script was reported before the SLOOC General Meeting and the IOC General Session in Istanbul in May 1987. After the Istanbul session, a production group was formed, with Pyo Jae-soon as its chief; it had 15 members involved in general management and 11 members from special fields. The performers selected in July 1987 included 13,625 people from 47 organisations for the Opening Ceremony and 6,173 from 29 organisations for the Closing Ceremony. I cannot pass by without mentioning the dedication of professors and specialists such as Professors Lee O-young, Lee Kang-sook, Han Yang-soon and Pyo Jae-soon and SLOOC’s Lee Ki-ha and Kim Chi-gon. Five special committees were formed: planning, performance, music, art and technical.

Selecting performers was a difficult process which required the cooperation of the government and dedication on the part of the performers themselves. They included 1,400 students from two primary schools, 8,781 from 19 high schools, 1,568 from 10 universities, 907 from 20 professional organisations and 2,844 from military units. The selection of one primary school student to be ‘Hodori’ for the Opening Ceremony and another to be ‘Hosuni’ for the Closing Ceremony was important, as they would be the focus of the entire stadium’s attention at one point. In addition we needed 307 individual performers, including 161 banner bearers, two drummers, one Olympic flag bearer, three MCs, five torch runners, one athlete


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representative, three conductors, three traditional music director, nine performers for the Olympic flag delivery and 88 ‘Hodoris’ and ‘Hosunis’. We had 52 skydiving performers and 389 folk group performers from 12 countries: Japan, Italy, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, France, Hungary, Indonesia, Peru, Poland, Turkey, the US and Senegal. Thirty ballet dancers from Barcelona participated in the Closing Ceremony. It was an Opening Ceremony that opened Seoul to the world and the world to Seoul.

A five-stage rehearsal process was begun in November 1987. The first stage was 40 hours, whilst the second stage took place by event for 48 hours. The third stage involved coordination among activities and lasted 32 hours, whilst the fourth stage was a general run-through of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies during the last month before the Opening Ceremony. This was done 16 times and included inspections of the performance itself, sound effects, special effects and more. The fifth stage was carried out seven times for the Closing Ceremony performance. A general rehearsal was held on 23 August, after which the first performance for citizens was held on 8 September, followed by a second public rehearsal on 14 September for 197 minutes. The dedication and time put in by the performers should not go unremarked upon. Some of the student’s parents complained that their children were being deprived of time to prepare for examinations. Nevertheless, the preparations went on. Music had to be prepared, with ‘Hand in Hand’ composed and promoted as the official song of the Seoul Olympics.

As a PR firm, we hired Burson & Marsteller. For broadcasting, we turned to NHK, Asahi and Australia’s Channel 10 to cover gymnastics, weightlifting and yachting. We hired O’Melveny & Myers as legal consultants for the TV contract with the US network and TWI as a TV advisers for the US negotiations. Many internationally prominent sculptors were commissioned to produce works for the sculpture park; Polygram was enlisted for the official song. Special effects had to be prepared, and


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the electronic scoreboard information and earphones at the Main Stadium needed to be equipped with translation into eight languages. These earphone-radios were distributed to all spectators as gifts. Park Seh-jik had had an uncomfortable experience at the Opening Ceremony at Calgary, where he had not received any programme and was forced to watch the performance in a cold seat on a cold day. He thought that something had to be done for the audience; the electronic scoreboard, he felt, was not enough. Indeed, there was only one electronic scoreboard. The IOC suggested having a second board on the other side so that everyone in the audience could see at least one. Seoul was always claiming it had the best facilities – and yet this basic element was missing.

I have always said that having the ‘best facilities’ is not merely a matter of concrete structures. We had to have all the necessary accessories and infrastructure. I was constantly battling with bureaucratic thinking. They were opposed to repairing Jangchung Stadium for judo, opposed to a new scoreboard at Jamsil Gym and opposed to one more scoreboard at the Main Stadium. The preparations included balloons, firecrackers, pigeons and a special flight of jet fighters for the Opening Ceremony, and ‘Hodols’ and ‘Cobis’, Mirror Moon balloons, search lights, smoke grenades, other lighting, dry ice and salute guns for the Closing Ceremony. Spectator card sections are now considered an important part of the ceremonies. A total of 179,306 costumes, ornaments and tools of 318 types were used. This was just for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies themselves; in addition, 240,958 costumes, ornaments and tools of 352 kinds were also used for the rehearsals.

The NOC athletes’ parade is always a major issue. Greece went first, Korea last, with the rest proceeding in Korean alphabetical order. The IOC wanted the Opening Ceremony to be a reasonable length, whilst the NOCs were pressuring to have many people included in the parade. Recognising these aims, SLOOC had to strike a balance among the number of parade


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participants, the length, logistics and security. The athletes could not be kept waiting too long. The Opening Ceremony lasted three hours; we had to finish the march in 32 minutes. Teams of four countries entered in 8 to 15 rows; every minute, they moved a distance of 42 metres.

A total of 4,056 personnel were involved in the preparations. Lunchboxes, canned drinks, bread, milk, ice cream, instant noodles, ginseng drink, coffee, beer, crackers and water all had to be made available. Lunchboxes were provided to 128,764 general personnel, 18,267 Games operational personnel, and 110,497 performing personnel; the total budget was 7,985 billion won. A total of 501 personnel were used for exit and entry control. In terms of audience members, 3,199 were invited from various walks of life on self-pay invitations, whilst 5,213 people were granted invitations as Olympic Family members, and free seats were provided to 193 IOC members, 114 IF members, 500 NOC members and 550 from Category B, 816 from Category C and 1,682 from Category D. The Opening and Closing Ceremonies were the only occasions when an AD card was not enough; everybody had to have tickets indicating seating blocks. These had to be delivered: to the IOC though the IOC Secretariat on 15–16 September; to the IFs, NOCs and OCOGs through the Main Hotel on 14–16 September; to Category Gs through the Inter-Continental Hotel, IBC and fourth floor of the SLOOC annex on 13–16 September; and to some Category Bs and Cs at the villages, some Category Bs and Cs at the Management Centre, and some Category Cs on the ninth floor of the Olympic Park.

Also needed were controls on the entry and exit gate, the embarking and disembarking of vehicles and parking lots. The transportation plan for moving Olympic Family members by bus from their hotels to the Main Stadium and back had to be well programmed. The first arrivals of these people at the stadium could start at 8 a.m. for the Opening Ceremony and 3.30 p.m. for the Closing Ceremony. A VIP lounge was provided for Royal


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Box personnel along with a temporary lounge for 1,730 IOC, IF, NOC, and Gv category personnel and free soft drink stands for all Olympic Family members and domestic guests – a total of 8,100 people. Seven thousand copies of the Closing Ceremony programme were printed in Korean, French and English. At one point SLOOC had intended to announce the entire programme of both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies in Korean only and show translations in French and English, but the IOC declined to approve this at my recommendation, as the Olympic Charter clearly states that the that the programmes must be announced in French and English. We could add our own language, and the French and English versions could be shorter.

Samaranch practiced a few Korean words so that he could speak the last sentence in the Korean language; his words drew a tremendous ovation from the whole stadium. According to the Olympic Charter, the SLOOC President was not supposed to speak at the Closing Ceremony, but I got Samaranch to grant permission to let him speak for two minutes to introduce Samaranch as he made his closing remarks. The Olympic Charter specifies that the Olympic Games are the exclusive property of the IOC. Samaranch was kind enough to present the Olympic Order to the SLOOC President at the Opening Ceremony. He also presented Olympic Orders to Mayor Kim Yong-rae, Olympic Village Mayor Kim Yong-sik, KOC President Kim Chong-ha and SLOOC secretary general Kim Ock-chin.

Sports Minister Cho Sang-ho also was a recipient, but he did not want to get his with the others at the Mayor’s office. Samaranch was at first not willing to accept my advice, but he finally let me organise another simple ceremony at the Shilla Hotel for Minister Cho. I was after all a bridge between Seoul and the IOC as well as the other sports organisations of the world. Samaranch presented the Olympic Cup to city of Seoul on the first anniversary of the event.

On 3 October, Samaranch went to the Cheong Wa Dae to present the


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Olympic Order Gold Medal to President Roh Tae-woo. After all, President Roh is the one who should get the most credit for the success of the 24th Olympic Games, which brought the whole Olympic Family and youths of the world together in one place after 12 years of turmoil. Usually, the head of state was supposed to be at the Opening Ceremony but never at the Closing Ceremony. At Samaranch’s urging, President and Mrs Roh Tae-woo were present both at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. President Roh declared the Games open as head of state, in accordance with the Olympic Charter; at the Closing Ceremony, he affirmed the success of the Games and confirmed that the Korean people had finally made it.

The Royal Box included the Spanish Queen and Crown Prince, Prime Minister Takeshita of Japan, the Deputy King of Malaysia and all three of Korea’s opposition party presidents (Kim Dae-jung, Kim Young-sam and Kim Jong-pil) and their wives alongside the SLOOC President, me, and the IOC vice presidents.

The event started on 17 September with the Han River boat festival at 10.30 a.m. Before it ended at 1.50 p.m., it included ceremonies, a drum dance, an Olympic fanfare, the hoisting of the Olympic flag, the lighting of the Olympic flame, recitation of the Olympic oath, a performance of the Korean national anthem, the athletes’ departure and a post-ceremonial performance consisting of segments in the form of traditional folk games entitled ‘A Great Day’, ‘Chaos, ‘Beyond All Barriers’ (a taekwondo demonstration), ‘Silence’, ‘New Sprouts, ‘Confrontation’ and ‘Hanmadang – One World’. People still remember the taekwondo demonstration to this day.

The Closing Ceremony avoided things like lasers, which had been featured in the LA Games. Instead it focused on evoking a quiet and natural Korean backdrop in a still, moonlit atmosphere. It was a scene designed to see off Korea’s guests in the moonlight. One highlight of the Closing Ceremony was the ‘Ojak Bridge Dance’, which involved the construction


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of a bridge in 30 seconds. It was a sad moment of farewell after 16 days together, with a pledge to meet once again in Barcelona. Members of the press would ask me what the happiest moment of the Games had been for me. I told them, ‘When the Closing Ceremony was over’. They did not understand what I meant. In retrospect, the Seoul Games had faced crisis many times – the opposition, the calls for a change of sites, the boycott threats, the terrorist threats, the invasion threats and the potential domestic crises from student demonstrations and rapid democratisation. It was a difficult job to bring the entire world together in Seoul and organise a safe, efficient and successful Olympic Games.

At the Closing Ceremony Arabs and Israelis walked around the track side-by-side in an atmosphere of total informality. What anti-Americanism there had been among Koreans had been largely the result by NBC’s inquisitorial television coverage of boxing – a sore point in light of the blatant American judging bias in 1984. Koreans welcomed the Olympic Family and bid them goodbye with the warmth that comes from true sadness at having to see somebody off.

At one point in the Closing Ceremony, it looked as if things might get out of hand with the uninhibited disorganisation among thousands of athletes in the arena. Samaranch, who was seated next to President Roh, called me several times to point out the disorder. I was also a bit worried but told him that they would soon be under control. I had to say that; I could not tell him I was worried. The athletes and officials were great, and our officials handled the situation with a discretion that few could have managed under the eye of television. With competitors swarming around them, the ceremonial dancers smiled as pleasantly as ever. Up until the last moment, I was in suspense, even though I knew we had a human wall to contain any problems. At the end, Samaranch congratulated me, and I told him, ‘Didn’t I tell you not to worry?’ He replied that he perhaps worries too much; in truth I had actually been more worried than him. That is why I said that my


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happiest moment was when the Closing Ceremony was over.

Cultural and Arts Programmes

Olympism is about sport and culture combining to create the greatest festival of mankind.

In accordance with the Olympic Charter, SLOOC, in conjunction with the XXIV Olympiad, staged a variety of grand arts and cultural programmes. It was SLOOC’s wish that these programmes would match the dazzling spectacle of the sports events. Rule 39 of the Olympic Charter stipulates that ‘the OCOG shall arrange, subject to the approval of the IOC, exhibitions and demonstrations of the host country’s art (architecture, literature, music, painting, sculpture, photography and sports philately) and fix the dates during which these exhibitions and demonstrations shall take place. The programmes may also include theatrical, ballet, opera performances or symphony concerts. This section of the programme shall be of an equal standard and held concurrently and in the same vicinity as the sports events. It shall receive full recognition in the publicity released by the OCOG.’

SLOOC designated 50 days from 17 August (33 days prior to the opening) to 5 October 1988 as the period of the ‘Seoul Olympics Arts Festival’. This festival was designed to introduce Korea’s unique traditional culture and modern arts to the world. It also sought to promote international cultural exchange transcending differences in race, religion and political ideologies, thus contributing to the realisation of world peace as the ideal of the Olympic Movement.

Events included an International Open Air Sculpture Symposium, an International Contemporary Painting Exhibition, a World International Sculpture Exhibition, an Exhibition of Korea’s Contemporary Painting,


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the Seoul Art Exhibition, special exhibitions of traditional cultural assets, exhibitions of Korean culture, commemorative exhibitions of the Seoul Olympics, a drama festival, the Seoul International Dance Festival, a Traditional Arts Festival, the Seoul International Music Festival, the Seoul International Song Festival, a commemorative concert, and a Korean Film Festival. Special performances included the Opening Ceremony, Torch Greeting Festival, Special Performance Commemorating Opening of IOC General Session, Olympic Eve Gala Festival, Han River Festival and cultural events at the Olympic Villages. There were a total of 41 festivals, 11 performances, 24 exhibitions and six commemorative festivals. The Korean traditional cultural arts festivals featured 83 programmes, with another 91 at the International Cultural and Art Festival and 21 at the citizen’s cultural festivals. Twenty-one local cultural Torch Greeting Festivals were hosted. A total of 31,214 personnel from 512 organisations participated. Domestic participants included 28,813 personnel from 469 organisations, alongside 2,401 foreign personnel from 43 organisations in 73 countries. A total of 9.5 million people watched the festivals. This included 2.5 million visiting performances and exhibitions and 7 million attending outdoor festivals; 550,000 of them were from foreign countries. A total budget of 1.9 billion won was spent: 3.1 billion won from the Cultural and Art Promotion Funds, 1.1 billion won from SLOOC, 4.4 billion won from social organisations and the press and 390 million won from the government.

An official film record was completed by September 1989, with Bud Greenspan and Nancy Beffa (who had made the LA and Calgary films) helping SLOOC and Korea Film Institute as consultants. There would actually be two films: one as the official film of the IOC and another for distribution on the world market.

Many cultural events were also staged for athletes at the Olympic Villages. These included a folk dance, music and dress shows from 16 September to 1 October and Korean films and cultural films from


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3 September to 2 October. Korean tourism exhibitions and traditional art item exhibitions also were staged. There were two big seminars and symposiums: the Seoul Olympics Sports Science Academic Seminar from 1 to 15 September with 1,800 scholars participating at the Cheonan campus of Dankook University, and the Seoul Olympics International Academic Conference from 21 August to 8 September at Christian Academy House and Hilton Hotel, with 261 scholars participating as they sought ways of achieving the ideals of the Olympic Movement and directions for development in world sports science.

Over its seven years of preparations, Seoul became a capital of the world of sports. It hosted an ANOC General Assembly, the ASOIF Congress and OCA General Assembly, the AIPS General Assembly, various IOC meetings, world broadcaster meetings, BBAC meetings and more. A Youth Camp was also organised from 13 September to 2 October at the Unification Pavilion with 1,000 participants from 70 countries. Sponsored by the Korea Boy Scouts Federation, this was inspired by the spirit of the Olympic Movement and its aim of bringing the youths of the world together in one place. It provided participating youths with opportunities to attend the Olympic Games, visit Korean homes and sightsee Korean cultural heritage sites.

At Samaranch’s suggestion, the Olympics includes two events for disabled persons. Like the LA Olympics, Seoul had one event for men (the 1,500m wheelchair race) and one event for women (the 800m wheelchair race) at its Main Stadium. Queen Sofia of Spain awarded the medal in the men’s division, and Kim Ok-sook, wife of President Roh Tae-woo, awarded the medals to the winners in the women’s event. The aim was to give hope to disabled persons for rehabilitation and social participation.

Every time that cultural events are planned and performers are selected, it results in rivalries, disputes and sometimes petitions. When SLOOC organised a sculptors’ symposium to produce a sculpture park, it had


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to solicit help from artists in Paris and Korea. Those who did not get the chance petitioned, arguing that they should be involved too. When SLOOC selected orchestras for the IOC Session and Opening and Closing Ceremonies, the Korea Philharmonic and Seoul City Philharmonic competed with each other. We had to provide them with equal opportunities. When SLOOC selected one particular fashion designer to show fashion, the entire fashion design association protested. The SLOOC had to authorise the association to select four designers to provide fashion shows; Andre Kim ended up attracting many visitors. When SLOOC had to select a singer for the official song ‘Hand in Hand’ and the song of Seoul, Koreana, Cho Yong-pil, Patti Kim and Kim Yun-ja all competed for the honour. Everybody argued that this was the people’s Olympics and that it should be represented by everybody. The SLOOC had to balance idealism with practical concerns.


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Youth Camp Participation

NOC Total M F NOC Total M F

All 43 NOCs 882 506 376 Liechtenstein 5 3 2

Asia 393 227 166 Luxembourg 5 3 2

Bahrain 6 6 - Malta 1 1 -

Hong Kong 8 5 3 Netherlands 16 9 7

India 13 8 5 Poland 10 5 5

Japan 70 42 28 Portugal 5 2 3

Korea 221 102 119 San Marino 1 - 1

Kuwait 9 9 - Spain 21 11 10

Malaysia 4 2 2 Sweden 4 3 1

Oman 15 15 - Switzerland 33 18 15

Philippines 19 15 4 America 86 43 43

Saudi Arabia 22 22 - Belize 7 5 2

Sri Lanka 4 - 4 Canada 20 9 11

Thailand 2 1 1 Mexico 19 7 12

Europe 350 203 147 Surinam 1 - 1

Austria 19 14 5 USA 39 22 17

Belgium 20 12 8 Africa 36 26 10

Cyprus 2 2 - Algeria 5 3 2

Denmark 10 5 5 Libya 4 4 -

Finland 51 28 23 Nigeria 14 8 6

France 36 23 13 Senegal 13 11 2

Germany (FRG) 61 31 30 Oceania 17 7 10

England (GBR) 14 10 4 Australia 10 4 6

Greece 20 14 6 New Zealand 7 3 4

Hungary 16 9 7


235

Opening and Closing Ceremony Programmes

Opening Ceremony

Performance Title Time Duration Number of

Performers Content

Han River Parade 10.30 7 (1,846)Parade of ships between Yeongdongdaegyo Bridge and Jamsil Quay (broadcast on the electric scoreboard of the stadium)

Greeting of the Sun - Dawn Road 10.37 8 1,351 Modern interpretation of traditional ritual of

clearing the ground for a ceremony

Greeting of the Sun - Dragon Drum Procession

10.45 5 470 Dragon drum procession towards the torch stand

Greeting of the Sun - Heaven, Earth and Human Beings

10.50 4 88 Dance of Korean nymphs and Greek maidens around the ‘World Tree’

Greeting of the Sun 10.54 6 1,525 Modern dance and formation of number ‘88’ and the word ‘welcome’

The Official Ceremony

Olympic Fanfare 11.00 1 92 Olympic fanfare played

Entry of the President of Korea 11.01 1 President and Mrs Roh Tae-woo

Welcome 11.02 5 (1,100) Formation of the welcoming word

Entry of Athletes 11.07 60 672 March of delegations from 160 countries in Korean alphabetical order

Opening Speech 12.07 2SLOOC President - Opening Speech- Introduction of the President

Welcoming Address 12.09 2IOC President - Welcoming Address- Proclamation of the Games’ Opening

Opening Declaration 12.11 2

Hoisting of the Olympic Flag 12.13 8 1,477

Entry of flag holders accompanied by chwitadae, a traditional Korean marching bandHoisting of flag the Olympic anthem

Torch Lighting 12.21 5 4 Entry of last torch bearer through the south gate and one lap of the track

Olympic Oath 12.26 5 3 Recited by two Korean athletes and one Korean international judge

Korean Anthem 12.31 2 Audience standing to sing together

Exit of the Athletes 12.33 15 Swift exit through the gates


236

Performance Title Time Duration Number of

Performers Content

Epilogue

A Great Day - Flower Dance 12.55 5 1,450 A dance expressing longing for peace

Chaos 13.00 5 738(55)

Mask dance using 160 kinds of masks from 60 countriesPole masksBig balloons in the shapes of typical folk masks of Korea appearing over the roof

Beyond All Barriers 13.05 5 1,008 Taekwondo demonstration symbolising the destruction of barriers

Silence 13.10 1 1 Child rolling a hoop and running to the torch stand.

New Sprouts 13.11 5 1,200 Children playing together, rolling a hoop, jumping rope and kicking a shuttlecock

Confrontation 13.16 7 1,450 Gossaum, a traditional battle game; theme of ‘confrontation and reconciliation’

One World 13.23 7 1,220

Modern danceParade of national flowers of the countries that have hosted the OlympicsParade of ‘Hodori’ and historical Olympic mascots‘Hodori’ and ‘Hosuni’ float paradePerformance of folk dance groups from 12 countriesSingalong with Koreana’s ‘Hand in Hand’‘Spring in Hometown’ sung by a children’s chorus

Total 10.30–13.30 180 13,625

Materials Acquired for the Ceremonies

Type Costumes Accessories Ornaments Equipment

Opening Ceremony 14,845 items69 kinds

35,166 items74 kinds


2,761 items30 kinds

Closing Ceremony 3,763 items16 kinds

8,474 items26 kinds

2,084 items25 kinds

For Rehearsal Only 21,005 items5 kinds

1,200 items1 kind


102 items1 kind

Total 39,613 items90 kinds



2,683 items31 kinds


237

Closing Ceremony

Performance Title Time Duration Number of Performers Content

Performance of the Official Ceremony

Friendship 19.00 5 815 Streamers and ribbon dancers

Entry of Athletes 19.05 32 (587) Delegations entering regardless of nationality

Hoisting of the Three Flags

19.37 4 12 National flag of Greece hoisted to the Greek national anthem

National flag of Korea hoisted to the Korean national anthem

National flag of Spain hoisted to the Spanish national anthem

Magpie Bridge - Making a Bridge

19.41 4 (750) S-shaped bridge positioned in the field for dancers

Magpie Bridge - Light and Sound

19.45 7 720 Performance of fan dance and para dance

Parting of Ships 19.52 7 569 Scenes of parting ships

Closing Remarks 19.59 2 SLOOC President

Closing Declaration 20.01 2 IOC President

Returning of the Olympic Flag

20.03 8 60 Mayor of Seoul returning flag to the IOC president, who hands it over in turn to the mayor of Barcelona

The Seoul Games Flag Lowered and Flame Extinguished

20.11 5 81 (1,382)

Lowering of Seoul Games flag to the Olympic anthem

Olympic flame extinguished after the flag has made its exit

TV rights signing ceremony (1988)

Chapter 10

The Press and Broadcasting


240

The Media: 20th Century Pioneers

We learned a lesson from past Games: no matter how well they have been organised, the Olympic Games will not appear successful if the print and electronic media do not cover them properly. The maximum, widest possible coverage of the Olympic Games is key to the successful exposure of the Olympic Movement to the world.

The mass media are no longer bystanders or mere observers; they are active participants and principal agents in the athletic competitions. Lord Killanin once said there are five bodies that organise the Olympic Games: the IOC, the IFs, the NOCs, the OCOG and the mass media. Electronic media now constitute the chief source of revenue for the Organising Committee.

SLOOC’s objective was to provide print media with convenient coverage facilities and prompt and accurate dissemination of information. The SLOOC Press Department also tried to contribute to public relations for the country as a whole. Operation of the Main Press Centre (MPC), support for domestic and foreign press, overseas PR policies, conferences, briefings and press programmes were the responsibilities of SLOOC’s Press Department.

A total of 1,949 personnel were involved: 83 SLOOC staff, 910 volunteers, 158 government officials, 118 temporary employees and 680 contract employees.

Main Press Centre

The MPC provided common facilities for press activities and space for individual press agencies, transmission of press reports, communications equipment, results, press conferences, briefings, photo development, camera

Chapter 10 The Press and Broadcasting

241

repairs, lease or loan services and language services. MPC also performed a trouble-shooting role. The central hall on the first floor served as a common press report compilation room. In a sense this area was the ‘main stadium’ of the press Olympics. There were 298 typewriters operating in 20 languages, 40 WINS terminals and 40 CATVs. One hundred collect call international telephones were set up for immediate connections to 57 countries. Housed in individual offices on the first and third floors were 115 press agencies from 24 countries. During the Asian Games the MPC had been located at an annexe of the Korea Electric Power Corporation, and it was difficult to transport more than 16 people at one time by elevator. The infrastructure had been inadequate. SLOOC looked around all over before finally renting the KOEX building. The Korea Trade Corporation charged only one-third of the rent. It was spacious and easy to move around, although lots of work had to be done to provide the press with the necessary facilities.

Temporary telephone and telegraph services handled late transmissions of press drafts with 79 telexes, 25 fax machines and four photo transmitters. Through these services, 3,977 telexes, 4,479 faxes, 338 photos and 3,266 request calls were processed.

Accreditation took place in accordance with the Media Guide. A total of 5,197 people were accredited. Examination of applications was done jointly by the IOC and SLOOC. An AD centre was located at the Press Village. Michelle Verdier, IOC spokeswoman and director of information, and Lee Jae-hong, press bureau director of SLOOC, worked very closely together. Miss Verdier was a very intelligent lady who was devoted to the Olympic Movement and ready to help SLOOC. She often faced difficult questions concerning matters such as the inter-Korean sports talks, participation, preparations, problems at the Press Centre and doping, but she was always ready with the correct answer.

For the sake of flexibility, an additional 453 MPC-only cards were


242

issued. Many agencies wanted more passes for local employees but that was sometimes impossible for security reasons. Many agencies wanted more space but we had to squeeze them in. Yet we did our best to provide maximum service to the press. For example, Kodak operated a free photo lab, even though nearby inhabitants protested about the chemical side-effects and threatened to block the labs. The MPC provided a results service through WINS and CATV. The sixth floor press conference room was the site of 56 official press conferences. After the Games, Samaranch, Park and I attended an official press conference. Park’s biggest announcement was the profit of approximately 200 billion won. This prompted a barrage of detailed questions, and the IOC President helped to clarify the matter by explaining that Park’s announcement was just an interim report.

Doping was another big issue. The Seoul Games had 10 cases, whereas LA had had 12. But because of Canada’s Ben Johnson and the Bulgarian weightlifters, Seoul ended up being treated like the ‘doping Games’.

Our press conference was followed by the presentation of the Paeksang Crown to Kristin Otto, the GDR athlete who had won six gold medals in swimming. It was presented by Chang Lang-jae, publisher of the Hankook Ilbo group, which also published the official Olympic Village papers. He is son of the late Chang Key-young, an IOC member from 1966 to 1977 and the man whom the Paeksang Crown Award honours.

The Paeksang Crown costs US$15,000 to make. The screening committee was composed of myself as chairman, and Jan Staubo, Pal Schmitt and Anita DeFrantz from the IOC and publisher Chung Tae-yun of The Korea Times as members. They considered awarding the honour to Carl Lewis or Russian gymnast Elena Shushunova, but it finally went to Miss Otto, who was already back in Berlin. Bachmann, the GDR’s Olympic Attaché, stayed to receive the award.

On constant standby were 46 foreign interpreters, along with another 120 translators who helped with press conferences at 23 sports venues. The


243

special motor pool operated 30 buses and 10 minibuses and transported a total of 23,982 persons over a cumulative distance of 65,521 kilometres.

A photo zone was provided for the press pools. They could also get free film development and camera repairs if they had an armband.

Kodak developed 134,680 rolls of film. A total of 89 photo marshals provided guidance at 15 venues. Managing so many different organisations’ cameras in the stadiums is becoming an increasingly serious issue. For the first time in Seoul, the Games had SPCs (Sub Press Centres) and SPBCs (Sub Press and Broadcasting Centres) to meet the growing needs of broadcasters. SPBCs were established at 27 competition venues, four local competition sites and four ceremonial centres. Their responsibilities included securing press seats and interview rooms, operation of lounges and parking lots, support for press activities and maintenance of order and control. At each venue, interviews were done in order of gold, silver and bronze medallists, although the order was sometimes switched due to doping test times for the medallist. Basic snack and drink services were provided for free. During the Asian Games, the press had been provided with full food and hair-styling services, which had provoked much criticism. The MPC was located right next to the Seoul Sports Complex. The results system and press conferences emerged from the MPC and were transmitted to the IBC, which was located next to KBS in Yeouido. The IBC was quite far from Olympic Park and the Olympic Sports Complex, which resulted in numerous complaints from broadcasters about ‘second-hand information’.

International Broadcasting Centre

Olympic broadcasting performed two very important roles. One was exposure for the Olympic Games through electronic media coverage and


244

the other was generation of the most important source of financial revenue. KBS was designated as HB, and KTA as host telegraph and

communication service. In addition to being involved in TV rights sales, the SLOOC Broadcasting Bureau was also responsible for hosting services for broadcasters through its support for KBS. IBC was inaugurated on 8 June 1988 and earned praised for its ‘21st century broadcasting’.

As HB, KBS was responsible for international signals for all competitions, including the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, both live and in summary. Some sports coverage, in events such as gymnastics, weightlifting and yachting, was assisted by NHK, Asahi and Australia’s Channel 10.

Hosting services were provided in accreditation, accommodation, coverage guidelines, support guidelines, convenience, reservation offices, customs clearance, security and entry and exit control. The IOC Technical Group was in close contact with SLOOC and HB, and a World Broadcasters Meeting and Olympic Broadcasting Advisory Council meeting were convened. Many agencies were involved in carrying out important work, which required substantial financial and equipment resources. Because the job was very complicated, coordination between those agencies became very important. In the wake of Montreal, the Seoul Games established a firm footing in Olympic broadcasting. At the same time, matters such stadium management, camera positions, mixed zones, access controls and other areas need to be more clearly defined in future guidelines.

A lot of trouble-shooting was needed before Seoul Games Broadcasting was able to achieve this new level of Olympic broadcasting. In the case of the canoe courses, commentators wanted to enter the interview areas through the athletes’ zone, and temporary passes were issued to allow them to do so – five for the preliminary rounds and 20 for the semi-finals and finals. The seating blocks for different categories in the swimming hall were in disarray and needed to be corrected. Individual VTR cameras


245

were allowed for non-broadcasting and non-commercial purposes but professional VTR cameras were not allowed in the commentary positions upon request.

Armbands were also issued for ENG location access. After a meeting with IAAF and Alex Gilady and Manolo Romero, special daily armbands were issued for infield cameramen at the Main Stadium from GB, NPC, Photopool, official film, CCTV and biomechanics crews. The IBC result system was always slower than at the competition venue, including the start lists.

Some mistakes also occurred. The positioning of chairs in the commentary areas turned out to be inconvenient. KBS ENG teams were moving around at the venues with only RT cards and no armbands or bibs, and order had to be imposed.

The PR system at the diving hall was too loud for the other broadcasters, and the volume of voices had to be lowered. The mixed zone at the gymnastics hall was located outside of the lines where the athletes would come in and out and had to be moved inside the competition arena. The telephones in the EBU and OIRT commentary boxes were used by outsiders. Covers had to be installed over monitors to protect them from the elements. OTI wanted its own interpreters to be brought in, but that was impossible due to issues with accreditation in the RT category. There were requests to have a copier in operation 24 hours a day but it was only available until 8 p.m. These were just some of the small irritations that came up daily. The use of two rings in the boxing competition – despite opposition from broadcasters and the SLOOC Competition Department – was something that AIBA had pressed hard for, and it ended up having tremendous negative repercussions. The same thing is happening now with Barcelona, which is having difficulties not just with the two ring issues but site selection in general.

The IOC TV Commission worked hard under the chairmanship of


246

the late Lance Cross. The commission’s technical group consisted of Gilady, Romero and Yushkevitch; they were always helpful in sorting out problems, although they had to confront the SLOOC Broadcasting Bureau many times. Their expertise was in great demand due to complex problems involving stadium management and the formulation of a new Broadcasting and Press Guide. The world of electronic media is developing at an extremely fast pace; sports and electronic media must become better acquainted with one another. NBC’s graphics room in the IBC was outstanding, whilst NHK was experimenting with high definition television. Samaranch and I visited IBC again after the Games to thank the broadcasters for their contribution.

Press (Registration of Press Members)

Category Total Domestic Foreign

E 3,156 601 2,555

ES 193 37 156

EP 710 76 634

EPS 72 19 53

ETE 700 176 524

ETV 101 101

MPC only 448 155 293

Total 5,380 1,064 4,316

* 123 countries; 1,583 press organisations


247

Press Member Visits by Number of Days Spent in the Press Village

Date Check-in(Cumulative)

Check-out(Cumulative) Number Present

9 2 773 (773) - - 773

3 99 (872) - - 872

4 146 (1,018) - - 1,018

5 142 (1,160) - - 1,160

6 223 (1,383) - - 1,383

7 195 (1,578) - - 1,578

8 218 (1,796) - - 1,796

9 387 (2,183) 1 (1) 2,182

10 262 (2,445) - (1) 2,444

11 408 (2,853) 2 (3) 2,850

12 435 (3,288) 2 (5) 3,283

13 708 (3,996) - (5) 3,991

14 708 (4,704) 2 (7) 4,697

15 230 (4,934) - (7) 4,927

16 125 (5,059) - (7) 5,052

17 27 (5,086) - (7) 5,079

18 15 (5,101) 2 (9) 5,092

19 16 (5,117) 1 (10) 5,107

20 21 (5,138) 7 (17) 5,121

21 21 (5,159) 14 (31) 5,128

22 9 (5,168) 6 (37) 5,131

23 7 (5,175) 1 (38) 5,137

24 5 (5,180) 1 (39) 5,141

25 3 (5,183) - (39) 5,144

26 - (5,183) 28 (67) 5,116

27 1 (5,184) 7 (74) 5,110

28 2 (5,186) 88 (162) 5,024

29 - (5,186) 156 (318) 4,868

30 - (5,186) 61 (379) 4,807

10 1 - (5,186) 53 (432) 4,754

2 - (5,186) 250 (682) 4,504

3 - (5,186) 1,571 (2,253) 2,933

4 - (5,186) 1,548 (3,801) 1,385

5 - (5,186) 1,385 (5,186) 0


248

Major IBC Facilities

ClassificationFloor Space (m2)

Facilities Major Role(s)

Basic Facilities (3rd Floor) 1,548

Transmission room, distribution centre, central recording area, major control area, etc.

Distribution of basic picture and sound, distribution of interpretive sound, archive services, closed circuit television

Individual Facilities

(all floors) 26,614

Television production area, radio production area, off-tube booth, individual broadcasting offices

Studio production, editing and production of commentary, transmission of signalised pictures to home countries, individual office spaces

Support Facilities

(1st, 2nd, 5th floors)

6,718

Computer centre, accreditation centre, integrated reservation office support centre, information and coverage support centre, conference and briefing room, equipment repair centre, other amenities (dining hall, bank, post office, store, travel agency, etc.)

Support for broadcasting production and production of information, support for communications equipment, receipt of reservation, support for coverage and provision of other amenities

Total 34,880 IBC 34,000 m2, Subsidiary Facilities 4,795 m2


249

Media Occupants in Main Press Centre (MPC)

Country Outlet Office Space (m2)

United States APUPI

1,134324

Great Britain Reuters 756

France AFP 513

USSR TASSIOPP

54300

Subtotal 6

Korea Kangwon IlboGyeongnam Ilbo

Kyeongin IlboKyunghyang Shinmun

Kwangju Ilbo Maeil Shinmun

Daejon IlboDong-A Ilbo

Maeil Business Newspaper Busan Ilbo

Seoul ShinmunYonhap News Agency

Jeonbuk IlboJeonwooshinmun

Jeju PressChosun Ilbo

JoongAng Ilbo Chungcheong Daily News

Korea Economic DailyHankook Ilbo

The Korea HeraldKBSMBCCBS

Hankyoreh ShinmunNOPP

27272781274527812745

10840027272781812727

1082727271818

300


250


United States The Boston GlobeThe Chicago Tribune

Copley PressCox Newspapers

The Dallas Morning NewsThe Denver Post

NewsdayDuomo Photograph Inc.The Los Angeles Times

The New York TimesThe Olympian Magazine

The San Jose Mercury News Scripps Howard News ServiceSports Illustrated Magazine

The Sporting NewsTime Magazine

USA TodayThe Washington Post

NewsweekNBC

Radio Free Europe

276027542727275427272727275427

11013527542712

Japan Asahi Shimbun Hochi Shimbun

Japan Magazine Publishers AssociationJIJI Press

Chunichi Tokyo ShimbunKyodo News ServiceMainichi NewspaperNihon Keizai ShimbunNikkan Sports Press

Nishi-Nizuoka ShimbunHokkaido Shimbun

Photo Kishimoto CorpSankei Shimbun

Shizuoka ShimbunYomiuri Shimbun

NHK

10827279054

208120271854

2710818

12612

Italy A.G.C. (Cori Press Agency)Agencia ANSA

La Gazzetta dello SportCorriere della Sera

La RepubblicaCorriere dello Sport/Stadio

272734342727

Federal Republic of Germany

Stern MagazineSport Information Dienst

Sport International MagazineAxel Springer VerlagDer Spiegel Verlag

DPACreative Team

Frankfurter RundschauFrankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

27126277218

200272727


251


Great Britain Bob Thomas Sports PhotoSunday Times Magazine

ALL Sport

272745

France Le SportL’Equipe

Temp Sport Sipa Press

27542727

Sweden Press Bild ABNordic Photo Team

Tidningarnas Telegrambyra

549690

Switzerland Tages-Anzeigers Sontags ZeitungNeue Zuercher Zeitung

Sport Inf Soc

271818

Austria Austria Press Agentur 27

Australia NEWS Limited AustraliaThe Age Newspaper

5427

China Xinhua News Agency 216

Denmark Politikens Pressfoto 34

Finland European Press UnionHelsingin Sanomat

20023

German Democratic Republic

AND 108

Netherlands A.N.P.NPA

2727

Hungary Hungarian News Agency 81

Norway AftenpostenScan Foto

3427

Spain Agencia EFE 108

Canada The Toronto Star 27

Israel Maariv DailyYedioth Ahronoth

1827

Poland Polish Press Agency 27

Chinese Taipei China News Agency 27

Subtotal 109

Total 115


252

Form of Broadcast Production by Sport(O = live in full)

Classification Live Recorded Summary


O

Archery O

Track O

Field O

Walk Start & finish O

Marathon O

Basketball O

Boxing O

Canoeing

Cycling (Track) O

Cycling (Road) Individual Team

Equestrian O

Fencing Final Preliminaries

Football O

Gymnastics O

Handball O

Hockey Pitch 1 Pitch 2

Judo O

Modern Pentathlon All except shooting Shooting

Rowing O

Shooting First medal awarding ceremony O

Competitive Swimming O

Water Polo O

Diving O

Synchronised Swimming O

Table Tennis From quarter finals All preliminaries

Tennis Centre court Other courts

Volleyball O

Weightlifting O

Wrestling One mat only

Yachting Opening ceremony O

Baseball From semi-finals

Taekwondo O

Women’s Judo O


253

Accreditation by Broadcast Outlet and Country

Country OutletAccreditation Cards Issued

RT1 RT2 RT3 Total

Algeria RTA-TV 4 1 5

Angola RNA 2 1 32

Australia NET-10ABC-Radio

6326

917 13 167

33

Austria ORF-TVORF-Radio

126

121 2 26

7

Belgium RTBF-RadioRTBF-TVBRT-TV

BRT-Radio

31092

12

41292

Bolivia ATB 3 3

Brazil TV BandeirantesRadio Bandeirantes

TV GloboEmbratel

MancheteClube

Set RBS

473

382

32751

131

44

2414

4

8

1

644

902

568

101

Bahrain Bahrain TV 1 1

Bulgaria BTV 11 1 12

Canada CBC 138 130 268

Chile TVN 2 1 3

People’s Republic of China CCTRCPBS

141

61

202

Denmark DR 35 35 5 75

Egypt ERTV 7 1 8

Spain SERCOPERNE

Antena 3TVE

5392

68

214

66

1

5

74

142

139

Finland YLE 37 15 52

France RTLA2FSRF

EUROPEIRFIFR3TFI

7131323

1017

1981

225

5

3

8272133

1245


254


RT1 RT2 RT3 Total

Federal Republic of Germany ARDARD-Radio

ZDF

723462

462556

8

7

12659

125

Great Britain BBC-TVITV

9564

5874

21

155139

German Democratic Republic DDR-RadioDDR-F

1521

37

1828

Greece ERT-TV 12 4 1 17

Hong Kong ATVTVB

1414

76 3

2123

Netherlands NOS 37 8 45

Hungary MRMTV

713

22

915

Indonesia TVRIRRI

21 2 4

1

India DDIAIR

44 1 5

4

Ireland RTE-TVRTE-Radio

207

11 1

219

Iran IRIB 4 2 6

Iceland RVV 2 2

Israel IBA-TVIBA-Radio

134

52 1 19

6

Italy RMC-TVRAI

1350

343 4

1697

Japan SLOJP Opns GroupNHK

Bunka HosoNippon Hoso

Fuji TVNTV

TV AsahiTBS

TV Tokyo

1027725

343355381

80108

372631432

39

2

7

185194

25

716186883

Kenya Kenya TVVok

13 1

14

Korea HB-KBSHB-MBC

KBSMBCCBS

52015042040233

1,565432262269

7

11

787

2,09658276067840

Kuwait KTV 2 1 3

Libya LJB 2 2


255


RT1 RT2 RT3 Total

Luxembourg RTL-TV 1 1

Malaysia RTMTV3

ABU Opns Group

118

15

44 3

151515

Morocco RTM-TVRTM-Radio

11 2 3

1

Mexico TelevisaImevision

OTI Opns Group

273312

442113

18

715533

Monaco RMC-Radio 3 1 4

Nigeria NTAFRCN

135 1 14

5

Papua New Guinea PNBC 1 1

Norway NRK-RadioNRK-TV

610

33 1

914

New Zealand BCNGRNZ

3017

274 7 64

21

Oman OMAN TV 1 2 3

Pakistan PBCRTV

36

36

Peru ATV-P 3 3

Philippines PTV4 26 13 39

Poland TVPPLR

128 4 16

8

Portugal TDMRTPROP

232

2252

Singapore SBC 2 2 4

Switzerland SRG/SSR/TSIEBU/OIRT Opns Group

4159

2230

3233

66322

Sweden SVTSR

2419

75 1

3125

Czechoslovakia EBU/OIRT Opns GroupCSTCSR

28143

4121

1685164

Thailand TPT 12 9 21

Chinese Taipei TTV 23 9 8 40

Tunisia RTT 2 2

Turkey TRT 10 1 11

USSR TSS 22 8 30


256


RT1 RT2 RT3 Total

Uruguay Canal 12CM4

31

11

42

USA NBC 733 952 469 2,154

Yugoslavia JRT-TVJRT-Radio

373

81 1

455

Zambia ZNBC 2 2

Total 4,435 4,982 943 10,364

I brought taekwondo to the world’s attention with a demonstration held at the Opening Ceremony of the Seoul Olympics at Juan Antonio Samaranch’s suggestion (1988)

Chapter 11

Logistics and Support

Chapter 11 Logistics and Support

259

Accreditation System

In the Olympic Games, one of the most important requirements is acquisition of an accreditation card (AD card). Without one of these, nobody could function. It serves as a basis for operations, print and electronic media, competitions, security, privilege, transportation, lodging, tickets, admittance to conferences and visits. Everybody tries different ways to obtain some form of accreditation through his or her connections. Members of the Olympic Family have fewer to no problems – but sometimes even those who fall into certain privileged categories encounter exit and entry problems. People who have no category to claim will try to use pressure, connections, threats and every other means possible to obtain an accreditation card.

According to the Olympic Charter, SLOOC was required to provide participants with an ID card, AD card and temporary pass, providing identification and information about the holder’s level of privileges.

In establishing proper accreditation for the Seoul Games, SLOOC strictly observed the Olympic Charter. It considered the precedents of past Games, instituted computerisation for swift processing, took advantage of the Asian Games experience, decentralised the accreditation centre and closely cooperated with related organisations and agencies. SLOOC secured cooperation from the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Sports in terms of manpower, safety and technical expertise.

A basic detailed plan had already been formulated a year before the opening of the Games. A management programme for manpower, resources and budget was put into effect for every date and site.

If the inter-Korean sports talks had been successful and North Korea had accepted the IOC proposal to organise five sports in its territory, the free flow of approximately 25,000 accredited persons between North and South Korea would have been the first and most fundamental issue to be resolved.


260

In that case, the accreditation process would have played a very important and distinct role.

The fundamental principles that guided the formulation of these programmes were that ID cards would be used until the accreditation process was completed; that whilst those cards could be used for access to some areas, AD cards would be required for access to Olympic sites; that categories would be established in accordance with the Olympic Charter and past precedent, but privileges and restrictions beyond those in the Olympic Charter might be established in consideration of SLOOC’s special needs; that accreditation centres would be set up near lodging places and centres of activity for the convenience of participants; and that the system would be computerised for online swiftness, accuracy and convenience. Polaroid cameras were used after initial testing and a system was developed to suit the needs of the Olympics. A total of 525 personnel were engaged in AD functions along with 25 SLOOC staff members, 59 support staff, 321 volunteers and 120 short-term employees. Nine AD centres in Seoul and four in provincial cities were established.

The Olympic Family usually pressed hard on the G and O categories. All other categories fell strictly in accordance with the Olympic Charter but G and O were areas where SLOOC could use discretion and flexibility. The AD Department did not know who belonged to the G or O categories, which were under the control of the International Department; responsibilities for Category O people were shared by the AD, International and Competition Departments.

The most serious problem concerned requests for what we call ‘extra officials’: necessary officials beyond the numbers assigned by the Olympic Charter. Seoul was working on the basis of the 1982 Olympic Charter, but the Games were to take place in 1988. By 1988, the total of events, disciplines and sports had increased and the numbers in the Olympic Charter were not enough. LA had used a system of ‘extra officials’. There


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were around 250 of these extra officials, who enjoyed no privileges beyond going to training sites and staying at hotels. The demands were different in Seoul, which had 160 countries participating. We had to consider lodging, transportation capabilities and all sorts of logistics, although we considered these requests warranted and strove to grant them.

Any threats or requests that we were not responsive to were immediately forwarded to the IOC. I told my staff to respect the Charter and precedents, whilst taking our ability and willingness into consideration. If requests seemed legitimate we tried to comply, but if anybody behaved improperly or threatened us we refused. That was my policy and guideline.

I was responsible for lodging and accreditation, and my decisions were fast. Principles were upheld, but with some flexibility. Kim Sam-hoon of the International Department and Moon Dong-hoo of the Competition Department, both of whom were under my direct authority, recommended 1,500 as a maximum for NOC extra officials. Every NOC that visited SLOOC asked for accreditation of extra officials. These extra officials were to receive all of the same privileges as normal officials. Since visits to training sites alone were not enough, we allocated two buildings right next to the Athletes’ Village and allowed them to go to competition and training sites. But the NOCs continued to apply pressure either directly or through the IOC. SLOOC charged an extra US$23 for the villages, but otherwise granted most of the same privileges as other officials enjoyed. We could not openly announce that we were giving 1,500 extra officials accreditation, since that would have sparked a storm of requests and even more pressure. Some NOCs – like the Soviets – really did need them, but some NOCs just wanted to bring people. The Olympic Charter is currently being examined for possible revision, with plans for it to be updated at the Tokyo IOC General Session in September 1990.

Seoul followed the example set by Calgary by dividing the G category into ‘G’ and ‘Gv’ types. But the G privileges in Seoul were equivalent


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to those of Gvs in Calgary. Category G people were entitled to tickets to the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and accommodations. We tried our best to allow as many Gs as possible. VIPs could be granted Gs or Gvs easily, but there were frequent problems with accompanying personnel. IOC members and government officials usually brought along many members of press and staff, who required proper accreditation, lodging and transportation.

For every request, plenty of justifications and titles were provided. Our staff sometimes could not judge whether these were legitimate organisations that we should recognise; many times I had to make judgment calls. The issuance of O category cards also was difficult. Our Category O, unlike the O or even the G at Calgary, entitled holders to entry to all competition sites. All an O needed was tickets to the Opening Ceremony, whilst Gs were automatically entitled to tickets to both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. At one point we had to help out the next Olympic Organising Committee. Remembering our own difficulties in getting accreditation for SLOOC staff in Los Angeles, I approved 100 Os for Barcelona.

One European embassy official threatened our Protocol Department; our staff, detailed from the Foreign Office, flatly rejected his request. Later, Protocol Department staff members changed their minds and came back to me, but I refused the request. A couple of high-ranking Olympic Family members recommended one Asian who was always hanging around Shilla Hotel for accreditation. He had been recommended several times and stood in front of my secretariat every day, his excuse being that he was ‘studying the Olympic Movement’. I asked the Olympic Family members how they knew him, and they said that they had met him in the lobby of the hotel and that he seemed to be a serious researcher. I then asked them to provide guarantees for his background clearance. They did not want to guarantee him, and I did not approve his accreditation.

SLOOC had to constantly make determinations about Gs, Os and


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temporary passes. Many VIPs arrived at the last minute, and SLOOC had to run back and forth between the Main Hotel, the Accreditation Department and the Centre. I was always concerned about linking information between these centres and communications. I knew we had waited many hours in LA because of computer connections. Privileges were always a problem as well. I had to get special privileges for Ms Haggman to enter the athletes’ dining room as an Athletes’ Commission member; getting this done took three days. Many IOC members also are IF presidents or NOC presidents, and we had to grant cards of equivalent category to their acting officials.

ID cards were as good as multiple-use visas. ID cards were issued in 10 categories according to the revised Olympic Charter of 1987.

The following ID cards were issued:


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Category

Category (colour) Organisation Details

IOC (Gold) IOC IOC member, Hon. IOC member,IOC secretary general,Administrateur déléguéSolidarity director, sports director and one accompanying guest each

IF (Blue) IF Olympic Federations (29)President, secretary general and one accompanying guest each

NOC (Red) NOC President, secretary general and one accompanying guest each

B (Purple) IOC Commission members (spouses allowed in case of the Medical Commission),Secretariat members, IOC guests

B (Purple) IF Olympic Federations (23)Demonstration sports (2)-Technical delegates and one accompanying guest-Council members (20) (only to their own sport)OPC-recognised federations (15)-President, secretary general

NOC Chef de Mission

OCOG Sarajevo, LA, Calgary, Barcelona, Albertville Committee presidents, secretary generals and one accompanying guest

C (Brown) IOC Recipient of Olympic Order (before 1 January 1975)

NOC Deputy Chief of Mission (delegation size of 50+)

OCOG 6 each from Calgary, Barcelona, Albertville OCOGs

D (Grey) IF Olympic Federations (23) & demonstration sports-TD & Juries

E (Yellow) NOC & Press Print media reporters

RT (Orange) Electronic Press

Electronic media

F (Green) NOC Athletes, officials & extra officials

G (Turquoise) NOC & Others Invited guests & SLOOC officials

These allowed Olympic Family members and operational personnel to enter specified facilities and venues. They were different from ID cards or the temporary passes that are, for example, issued to those members of International Federations who come only for a few days for the IOC Congress or bidding city presentations. We had to make special arrangements for those IF members who came only for a few days.


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Conflicts occurred frequently among the AD, Security and International Departments. Each venue and site had authority to issue special temporary day passes on the spot. Many television networks and print publications used extra temporary passes to grant their additional members or local employees access to the IBC or Press Centres.

Introduction of the MR search system proved very useful in detecting forged AD cards. Any lost or stolen card was immediately reported to the General Situation room for immediate cancellation of the missing card, enabling swift investigation and security measures.

The presidents and secretaries-general of IOC-recognised federations had to be given B accreditation. This practice had started in LA. Only three or four federations had gone to those Games, but in Seoul all 15 federations came. They also had to be treated as important members of the Olympic Family waiting to be on the programme. The IFs devised a maximum of 20 Category B cards for council members. In LA they had sometimes been unable to buy admission tickets. For example, Don Hull, the then-president of AIBA, claimed he could not buy tickets for boxing. The IOC allowed 20 Category Bs, who were granted privileges only for their respective sites during their own competitions. They tried to claim all the other privileges but were unable to obtain them.

Each IF wanted four AD cards for its own magazine or photo crew. Some federations had sponsor issues. The ANOC Council, which does not fall under any category, required NOC cards. These problems all had to be solved. Sponsors had numbers of AD cards that had been agreed upon by the IOC and OCOG, but the demands grew later on. Special guests of the Olympic Family had to be taken care of. CBS was not the rights holder in Seoul, but it was the rights holder for Albertville and was preparing its people for Olympic broadcasting. We had to balance CBS’s request with NBC and other rights holders, but we also had to provide the network with several AD cards.


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Family of IOC members were given Category B accreditation cards in addition to the one guest provided for in the Charter. Still, many needed additional cards for assistants and other people required to carry out special duties. Anita DeFrantz needed extras for her Sports Foundations for research, CK Wu needed some for his family and Chiharu Igaya needed some tickets and cars for his wife’s family. Benjoullin needed some for his guests. Gramov wanted to change his son’s status from FX to B as soon as he was elected to the IOC. I was unsure about the communication between my office and the AD centre, so I had my assistant Kim Duk-soo personally take charge. The Medical Commission needed more, and the Marketing Commission also needed more to take care of sponsors. Our largest sponsor, Coca-Cola, had to take care of its executives and their spouses. Sheikh Fahad had his assistant in the OCA Bureau. The mayor of Los Angeles had an assistant who had to be taken care of. The Sports Ministers from the Soviet Republics, the Mayor of Hamburg, three Sports Ministers from Belgium and Ministers of New South Wales in Australia were on the periphery, and their requests required a personal determination. When AD cards could not be given, tickets were provided. The Olympic Charter does not cover everything, and SLOOC had to try to solve all the problems that were not covered.

SLOOC accredited 28 for Calgary, 96 for Barcelona, 13 for Albertville, 36 for Anchorage, 26 for Ostersund, 23 for Lillehammer, 18 for Sofia, 47 for bidding cities (including 19 for Athens) and 20 for the Beijing Asian Games Organising Committee. A total of 343 accreditations were granted for such purposes.


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Accreditation by Categories

Category Colour Qualification Projection Actual

Family IOC Gold IOC members, secretary general, secretariat director, one companion each 212 197

IF Blue President, secretary general, one companion each 108 114

NOC Red President, secretary general, one companion each 622 460

B Purple IOC subcommittee members, technical delegates, presidents of OCOGs 954 885

C Brown Attaché, SLOOC officials 1,037 933

D Grey Technical officials, judges 1,848 1,707

E Yellow Media personnel 5,197 4,933

RT Orange Broadcast personnel 9,410 10,360

F Green Athletes, officials 15,180 14,952

G Turquoise SLOOC members, invited guests 1,844 1,819

Semi-Family O Light

PurpleDelegates of past host cities 2,256 1,770

Sp Pink Sponsors, suppliers 410 324

Y Light Blue Youth Camp participants 1,000 878

Operation SO Dark Blue Korean sports personnel 1,437 1,670

SA Dark Blue Korean sports federation personnel 17,608 15,758

SD Dark Blue SLOOC-designated personnel 1,521 1,481

Volunteers SV Dark Blue Volunteers 27,072 26,029

Supporting Personnel

SE Dark Blue Temporary employees 2,159 2,051

SC Dark Blue Contract personnel 14,355 12,410

Amenities KP Light Green

Shops, money exchange, temporary post office personnel 12,325 10,626

Security KS Light Green

Security personnel 25,000 23,775

Total 15 141,555 133,132


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A total of 32,672 temporary passes were issued for limited access privileges to certain venues and facilities. In all, 144,482 applications were entered into the computer, which eliminated 6,091 cases of dual applications. Actual issuances totalled 133,132, of which 4,763 were re-issued.

The next organising committee can do a better job by:

1. Organising the Accreditation Department and system early on. 2. Securing and training key operational personnel early on. 3. Securing accreditation equipment early on and keeping it well

maintained. 4. Operating the Accreditation centre on a permanent basis, as guests

will arrive even after the opening of the Games. 5. Improving the accreditation system for operational personnel and

ensuring early enough application. 6. Operating the airport AD centre and the villages on a 24-hour basis,

allowing for at least three shifts. 7. Acquiring all materials from a central supply system as a rule. Small

items that cannot wait for central supplies must be obtained locally on the spot.

8. Ensuring a good supply of computer equipment and putting it online. 9. At Seoul, there were 13 Accreditation Centres, which cost extra

in terms of manpower and budget. Apart from the airport, villages and Main Hotel, a centralised AD centre should be considered for efficiency and economy.

10. Early delivery of ID cards under Categories E, RT and G is essential.11. The AD centre at village must be fully staffed due to its special

characteristics and the number of athletes it handles. On-the-job training of operational personnel is very important. Equipment must be fully operational.


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12. Establishing a system to accommodate temporarily delegations that arrive late at night. Some delegations arrive after 10 p.m. and should be allowed to enter the Athletes’ Villages with only some ID card confirmation.

13. In Seoul, the Category F description on the family list did not match the name entries at the AD centre. The forms of both must be examined for use in one integrated format.

14. Cooperation between the Main Hotel and designated hotels should be improved. If the computer system is put online, those at the Main Hotel who would like to be accredited at designated hotels, and vice versa, must be able to do so easily. Some kind of workable system must be explored.

15. The AD card insert must be printed with sufficient reserves.16. A uniform accreditation system must be studied. For the sake of

convenience, the division of responsibilities in Seoul had general Family members under the AD bureau, broadcasters under broadcasting operations and OCOG bureau members under the international bureau. Applicants sometimes had to visit several places before they found the correct one.

Sale of Admission Tickets

A total of 4,430,505 tickets were sold for 384 sessions of the competitions, including the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. NOCs or NOC-designated agencies were responsible for overseas sales, whilst domestic sales were provided through the Korea Exchange Bank and sales booths on the ground. Prices were fixed to allow maximum participation of spectators, whilst the prices of tickets for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies were set higher to meet demand and to avoid black market dealings. Precedent


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and popularity were considered when setting ticket prices for individual sports. Ticketing by competition was as follows:

Ticketing(Seats & Sessions)

Days Sessions / Day Total Sessions Seats Total Seats

Opening Ceremony 1 1 1 72,191 72,191

Archery 5 1 5 1,900 9,500

Athletics 8 1 8 69,937 559,496

Basketball 275

122 26 12,716 330,616

Boxing 312

12 27 7,185 193,995

Canoeing 6 1 6 25,000 150,000

Cycling 41

12 6 6,283 37,698

Equestrian Sports 10 1 10 14,141 132,269

Fencing 28

12 18 5,245 94,410

Football 10 1 32 - 913,159

Gymnastics 74

12 15 12,556 188,340

Handball 210

12 22 - 120,559

Hockey 13 1 13 21,232 276,016

Judo 7 1 7 7,416 51,912

Modern Pentathlon 4 1 3 - 29,389

Rowing 7 1 7 25,000 175,000

Shooting 7 1 7 - 11,534

Swimming 44

12 12 10,003 120,036

Diving 44

12 12 4,504 54,048

Synchronised Swimming

4 1 4 10,003 40,012

Water Polo 7 2 14 - 107,048


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Days Sessions / Day Total Sessions Seats Total Seats

Table Tennis 36

23 24 4,611 110,664

Tennis 12 1 12 - 161,204

Volleyball 384

123 31 227,404

Weightlifting 29

12 20 3,778 75,560

Wrestling 10 2 20 3,940 78,800

Yachting 7

Baseball 8 1 8 29,614 236,912

Taekwondo 4 1 4 7,416 29,664

Women’s Judo 7 1 7 7,416 51,912

Badminton 1 1 1 4,611 4,611

Bowling 1 1 1 1,000 1,000

Closing Ceremony 1 1 1 72,191 72,191

Total 384 - 4,717,150

Admission Ticket Issuance and Sales

Classification Volume IssuedSales

TotalDomestic Overseas

Opening Ceremony 72,274 33,427 19,640 53,067

Closing Ceremony 72,227 35,160 19,141 54,301

Subtotal 144,501 68,587 38,781 107,368

Archery 7,145 5,339 1,000 6,339

Athletics 502,976 387,080 91,444 478,524

Basketball 288,106 222,611 31,026 253,637

Boxing 163,620 103,814 25,635 129,449

Canoeing 140,958 61,977 1,859 63,836

Cycling 31,290 24,763 5,607 30,370

Equestrian 122,621 75,911 10,338 86,249

Fencing 79,614 41,718 5,255 46,973

Football 874,249 586,464 20,842 607,306

Gymnastics 161,670 98.531 56,069 154,616

Handball 102,763 81,021 10,925 91,946


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Classification Volume IssuedSales

TotalDomestic Overseas

Hockey 263,887 150,003 6,944 156,947

Judo 42,567 25,166 16,624 41,790

Modern Pentathlon 25,866 14,351 979 15,330

Rowing 164,451 62,842 6,140 68,982

Shooting 10,518 7,051 2,095 9,146

Competitive Swimming 87,996 45,402 40,232 85,634

Diving 37,188 21,761 13,527 35,288

Synchronised Swimming 29,332 20,088 8,476 28,564

Water Polo 78,082 48,769 6,119 54,888

Table Tennis 82,800 69,123 8,966 78,089

Tennis 150,767 96,759 15,006 111,765

Volleyball 208,309 135,291 48,015 183,306

Weightlifting 52,040 37,122 8,582 45,704

Wrestling 68,360 43,296 12,622 55,918

Taekwondo 23,940 18,520 3,916 22,436

Baseball 229,688 76,102 8,908 85,010

Women’s Judo 42,567 17,006 4,204 21,210

Bowling 1,000 1,000 1,000

Badminton 3,634 3,527 3,527

Reserves 213,000 144,797 144,797

Subtotal 4,291,004 2,727,221 471,355 3,198,576

Total 4,435,505 2,795,808 510,130 3,305,944

Tickets Sold by Sport

The total number of tickets sold is derived from the total numbers of seats at the competition venues in question multiplied by the number of competition sessions, minus seats that did not provide a view and free seats.

For the 384 competition sessions, total seats available amounted to 4,769,023, but actual sales were 144,474 for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and 4,036,458 for the competitions, with 33,710 special


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invitations.Ticket sales were classified into two types: Opening and Closing

Ceremonies and general competitions. There were 53,888 saleable tickets for the Opening Ceremony and 54,790 for the Closing Ceremony. Of these, 11,691 (Opening) and 11,849 (Closing) were allocated on a pay basis, whilst the rest were for public sale. Total sales for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies were 107,038, which amounted to 11.5 billion won. Sales to the Korean public were made by computer through advance reservation applications. Demand and supply for applications averaged 31:1; for first-class seats the ratio was 119:1. Overseas sales for both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies were at a 50-50 ratio with domestic sales, with only first- to third-class seats available. Total overseas sales amounted to 40,040 tickets.

In the category of general competition ticket sales, 578,000 were distributed free and the rest were sold through Korea Exchange Bank. From 1 September to 2 October tickets were sold on a first-come, first-served basis at KEB branches, post offices, competition venue ticket sales booths, Athletes’ Villages and the Olympic Family Town. There was a combination of reservations and cash sales. SLOOC also sold student tickets and group purchase tickets at a cheaper price for maximum attendance. Overseas sales were made through 95 agents in 94 countries, whilst Korean missions abroad took care of overseas Korean residents.

One of the difficulties faced from the beginning concerned the sale of tickets to the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, which are seen as the highlights of the Games. Although it was advertised that the Main Stadium had a capacity of 100,000, for our purposes its capacity was just 69,000, with 29,000 of those seats set aside for the Olympic Family, print media and broadcasters. This left only 40,000 seats for sale to the general public. Of this amount, 20,000 were reserved for sales in 167 countries, leaving 20,000 for Korea’s 42 million people. Pressure, accusations and demands


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were rampant. SLOOC felt sorry about it but had no other choice but to go through NOC-designated agents for foreign consumption and Korea Exchange Bank for domestic sales on a computer-selection basis. The SLOOC president came up with the idea to inviting citizens to two dress rehearsals of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies – which were almost the same as the real events – just before the actual opening. He also came up with ideas for the Han River Festival and the positioning of a large screen right next to the Main Stadium.

On the other hand, Korea had no stars in the equestrian or track and field categories, which sometimes did not attract many spectators. Samaranch pointed out the importance of not showing empty seats on television, which would not only be watched by the whole world but also be preserved for history. We had to come up with plans to fill the stadium. Group discount tickets, invitations and student tickets were some of the means invented, but this did not prove to be enough, and we also had to sell additional block tickets without designated seats. Free tickets were issued for track and field and equestrian competitions, causing some confusion.

Having seen the complaints and lessons learned in Los Angeles, we wanted package deals in advance for overseas spectators and visitors. Nobody buys tickets, airline reservations and hotel rooms separately in those countries. Bureaucrats simply did not understand this – or perhaps they did not want to do it to avoid being blamed for problems later. Package deals would have attracted more people; many groups and people abandoned the idea of coming to the Seoul Games for fear that they would be stranded without the things they needed. The clamour over the shortage of rooms and airline seats was growing louder. Finally, 6,040 rooms in the Family Town were obtained by the ticket bureau to be tied to ticket sales to foreign residents. This too was not enough. One overseas Korean proposed a ticket exchange booth, which had been used in LA, but the idea was not accepted. The Olympic Family members also faced demands and pressure


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from their visiting countrymen. We did our best to provide free tickets to meet these demands, which varied by country and interest in sports. My job at the Shilla Hotel was really to attend to the needs of the Olympic Family and VIPs.

Sheikh Fahad, OCA President and my IOC colleague, sent me a letter requesting the purchase of tickets for certain events. I instructed the ticketing bureau to draft a letter. They replied that all tickets had been sold and that he might be able to buy some for football after he arrived. I stopped drafting my response and took up the matter personally, securing enough complimentary tickets for him upon arrival. VIP and Olympic Family members, including members of the IOC, were to receive complimentary tickets for each venue.

Tickets for cultural events were not available at the Main Hotel, and the International Director and Cultural Programmes Director were at odds. The Cultural Programmes Director told the International Director to purchase the needed tickets himself. I was at the meeting, and the Cultural Programmes Director naturally was instructed to get enough tickets for the Olympic Family.

My position was that we were there to welcome and help all members of the Olympic Family, and that we should tackle every problem and need with a positive attitude and do our best. Olympic Cultural Festivals are for the Olympic Family and the public, I explained. If we could not get them through the cultural authorities, we should simply buy them, since they were not asking for much. The following day, cultural programme tickets were made available.

Another problem concerned athletes watching the events in other sports. Some athletes leave the country during the Games, but others want to stay behind and watch other sports. The IOC urged us to allow them to see other events. Some of the sports already had vacant seats, but it was too late to issue tickets. We had to send instructions to all venues informing


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them that Category F holders were to be allowed. It took several attempts to get this message through. As Arthur Takac pointed out before the Games, the Operation Centre and Field Unit must have enough people so that good communication channels work both ways. It was a comment that I constantly kept in mind.

Security for Seoul and the Games

These days, security and safety are the most important concerns in every international event where large crowds gather. The Olympics are no exception, especially after the Munich massacre in 1972, and with the Olympics becoming more and more contaminated by the politics of East and West.

Security for Seoul was a most difficult and exceptional task which required thorough and concerted efforts by the public, support from the government and all related agencies, international cooperation and comprehensive preparations and actions by SLOOC security.

One force countering Seoul’s role as Olympic host involved student demonstrations, which resulted from Korea’s rapid democratisation. Thefts and street safety were domestic concerns, but Seoul was also hampered by threats from North Korea – which could not stand to see the South on top of the world hosting the Olympic Games – and from international terrorism.

Our concerns about the Olympics’ security were compounded by a large explosion at Gimpo International Airport just before the opening of the Asian Games; a bombing attack by North Korean agents in Rangoon against a South Korean presidential party; the shooting down of a Korean Air aircraft by Soviet missiles; and the explosion of a Korean Air jet off the Thai coast.

At the same time, too much security and excessively strict controls tend


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to impede the smooth flow of athletes and the public. Achieving a balance of providing perfect security whilst guaranteeing a warm welcome and smooth handling had been a key goal since the closing of the Asian Games.

Olympic security was mainly concerned with two areas: security of the venues/facilities and protection of participants. Security authorities watched 264 venues during the Olympics. Personal safety was ensured by additional personnel and a protection unit. SLOOC also dealt with issues of traffic control, immigration, and anti-terrorism protection. Security protection, traffic control and public order on the streets were the responsibilities of the police. Perimeter security and anti-terrorist activities were in the hands of the military, and protection and escorting services were handled by volunteers recruited from a pool of experienced applicants. The Security Control Headquarters, which worked at SLOOC Headquarters, had to coordinate with 16 related agencies, including immigration and customs authorities. The backgrounds of 122,043 participants in the Games were examined to eliminate those with criminal records, alcoholic records, mental disorders and so forth.

By March 1988, security guidelines for the Olympic venues had been established. Step by step, functions were assigned and the execution plan was carried out. All security requirements had to be met, including manpower, X-ray detectors at exit and entry points, CCTV and Magnetic Stripe Reading (MSR) systems. Military and police units prepared to carry out their responsibility for security of the facilities. Individual administrative units inspected education, firefighting, gas and electricity services. SLOOC’s Safety Bureau had the most important job: coordinating and providing programme information to all these organisations.

A total of 81,630 members of military and police forces were mobilised to provide security for 264 facilities. Military units usually guarded the outside perimeter. Several hundred experienced former professionals were mobilised as volunteers. The efforts and dedication of those security units


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and volunteers should not be overlooked. About 3,500 volunteers were involved in AD card checking, security inspections and language services. The security of AD cards had to be guaranteed. At the suggestion of IOC colleague Ashwini Kumar, who was in charge of security matters, the position of security liaison officer was established. Four stages of training and orientation were conducted for security personnel to ensure maximum coordination and efficiency. Security was not only needed on the ground but also on the water, in the air and under the sea. Public relations measures were necessary to elicit the general public’s voluntary cooperation and understanding with regard to the Games’ security.

Language is a very important tool in any security operations, and special language services are a helpful element. Important factors in the success of the Games’ security included maintaining a low profile for security staff, less sub-dividing of access zones in venues and villages, constant alertness, early posting of key members, security awareness among Games operations personnel and, most importantly, the cooperation of the public. Access and equipment are necessary, but in the end it is actually the staff members who provide security. Host countries and OCOGs should be encouraged to exchange ideas with participating NOCs and international organisations in order to create an understanding and cooperative atmosphere regarding Olympic security measures.

At the Athletes’ Village, guard units would wake up early in the morning and exercise, which generated some yelling and noise; the athletes immediately complained that they could not sleep. Student demonstrations were also a potential source of disturbances. Dongguk University – which was located in front of the Main Hotel, the Shilla – was the site of demonstrations on intra-school affairs, which were observed by people staying at nearby hotels.

Sometimes trouble broke out between operational and security personnel. Some students tried to block a torch relay route near Suwon but were


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dispersed. Others were arrested for disseminating leaflets opposing the Olympics. Training for hockey teams had to be moved away from Kyung Hee University due to campus disturbances. As usual, the VIPs’ security personnel did not follow the necessary procedures for carrying weapons, which caused many misunderstandings. Some students at Seoul National University tried to demonstrate for the Olympics to be co-hosted with North Korea. Confusion coming from the press seats and spectator stands had to be resolved. Traffic accidents involving transportation vehicles, theft by US swimmers, reinforced protection for NBC personnel and facilities and special security for the marathon race were just some of the many incidents that took place; all of them were handled. The rigorous security and the clear communication with the Olympic Family contributed to one of the most successful Olympic Games in history.

Protective Facilities in the Olympic and Press Villages

Fence Height 2.7 m Length 14.3 km

Exit/Entry Gates 12 m 12 places

6 m 48 places

4 m 23 places

2 m 8 places

Stream Defence Facilities 25 mm barbed wire 95 m

Shading Screens 57 places

Closed-Circuit TV Monitor 36 units

Camera 70 units

Fence Impact Monitoring Devices 660 sets

Searchlight Lamps 15 lamps

Interphones Paging System 6 sets

Interphone 413 sets

Routing 15 km


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Detection & Control Equipment

Detection Equipment Control Equipment

X-ray scanners 10 Barricades 1,008

Door-shaped metal detectors 74 Iron spike pads 258

Hand-held metal detectors 229 Road blocks 415

Explosive and bomb detectors 7 Movable flower stands 344

Vehicle screening mirrors 81 Movable rope

supporters 2,687

Stick mine detectors 44 Mobile checkpoints 240

Inspection device sets 110 Magnetic Stripe Readers (MSR) 312

Inspection sticks 920 Inspection stands 265

Motorised air masks 9

Card containers 167

Sunshades 53

Ropes 16 km

Transport

Shuttle buses were used to transport athletes and officials to 34 competition venues, 72 training sites and ceremonial sites, villages and other lodgings. In some cases, buses and cars were assigned.

During the Olympic period, 776 shuttle buses, 309 minibuses, 1,340 sedans, 69 trucks and 62 special-purpose cars were used, for a total of 2,566 vehicles. A total of 3,723 personnel were assigned to transportation duties: 31 SLOOC personnel, 1,691 support personnel, 1,955 volunteers and six temporary employees.

In addition, 681 buses were leased from the Seoul City Bus Association and Tourism Bus Association, and 91 more were provided as support by the military. Sponsors Hyundai Motor supplied 420 sedans, whilst government and business corporations supplied 152, taxi companies 603 and the


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military 165. Cargo trucks were supplied by Korea Express on a lease contract, and 62 special-purpose cars were provided by the military.

The most important job was to transport athletes and officials to their destinations on time. A special motor pool was provided to deal with this task of transporting 13,304 officials and athletes. Based on the size of delegations, sedans and minibuses were exclusively assigned to each team for six sports: football, basketball, handball, hockey, water polo, volleyball and baseball. A shuttle bus operated between the villages and the competition and training sites, whilst stand-by cars for the transportation of NOC cargo were operated separately. A total of 6,800 tons of cargo were transported.

A gross total of 556 buses, 601 minibuses and 88 sedans were operated to transport referees and judges from the New World, Riviera, Samjung, Ambassador, Universe Tower, Palace and Hyatt Hotels and family apartments. The total budget expended was 4.4 billion won.

There were also problems. During the early stages of the Games, lack of cooperation resulted in some transportation delays. The demands of the Olympic Family became excessive at one time, causing fatigue among the drivers. It became difficult to ensure enough rental cars and drivers until the last minute, although 1,151 cars and 737 drivers eventually became available on a peak-day basis.

The Main Hotel motor pool was quite noisy. The IOC and IF president and secretaries-general and the state VIPs with Gv category cards each had their own chauffeur-driven cars. There were 454 vehicles in all. Some wanted their drivers to work between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., whilst SLOOC adhered to the general rule that drivers would be on-duty until 10 p.m. Extensions were possible if the driver was needed for social or official functions. Some wanted two chauffeurs per car, but we stayed with one chauffeur, except in the cases of the IOC President and the top leadership. Some complained that their cars did not show up early enough, but after


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a few days everyone had become familiar with the system and operations proceeded smoothly. NOC secretaries-general also wanted one chauffeur-driven car each, but we reserved the pool instead. A total of 258 pool cars were available for 469 NOC presidents, technical delegates, OCOGs, sponsors and broadcasters.

For the opening ceremony of the IOC session, 1,500 persons had to be transported by 30 buses, 160 sedans and 2 minibuses. This entailed safety measures, traffic control and parking. For the Opening Ceremony of the Games, 345 persons were transported by 19 sedans and 74 buses; for the Closing Ceremony, 1,351 persons were transported by 18 sedans and 48 buses.

The Main Hotel motor pool had many more duties than were listed in the rules. VIPs had very large entourages at times, and those people also needed cars. Security people need cars as well, as do members of the Olympic Family. We were happy to provide more cars when they were available.

About 3,500 VIPs had to be transported between hotels, competition venues and ceremonial sites. Special cars were assigned to VIPs, but buses were used for transport to the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, other major ceremonies and events. A motor pool was established at the Main Hotel. VIPs were assigned 691 cars for individual use.

A total of 1,114 shuttle buses and 166 minibuses were provided for Press Village personnel; 1,525 shuttle buses and 297 buses to competition venues; 33 buses for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and 18 (on reservation) for the IBC; 591 buses for the MPC; and 40 buses to the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for MPC personnel.

Although Calgary had used a general motor pool system without specific assignment of cars to anybody, Seoul strictly observed the IOC Charter and IOC advice in order to provide maximum service and convenience to Olympic Family members and VIPs.

The IOC Charter calls for one chauffeur-driven car per IOC member.


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General practice also dictates the same chauffeur-driven car per member as well as one for each IF president and secretary general, NOC president and IF technical delegate. We also provided ample chauffeur-driven cars through the Main Hotel motor pool for use by other guests and Olympic Family members in view of language problems and the situation in Seoul. To transport IOC Secretariat personnel, we offered shuttle bus service between the Shilla and Ambassador Hotels.

When I attended the Innsbruck Winter Games in 1976 as head of KOC, I was unable to get a car. They told me that I would have been allocated one if there had been nine or more members in our delegation; we had only eight. I could not get any from motor pool either. Ultimately I had to get a sticker and use the car of one of my taekwondo instructors. When I went to the Montreal Games in 1976 as secretary general and first vice president of KOC, I stayed at a Travel Lodge and had to go to the Opening Ceremony with fellow vice president Lee Won-kyung by subway. Not only did we receive no motor pool guidance but KOC president Kim Taek-su had already transferred to another hotel with the one car assigned to NOC. We went to all the competitions by our own means or public transport. We did not complain back then; we just enjoyed the Games.

Providing adequate transport during the Olympic Games is a long-term project that requires consideration of different regions, venues, step-by-step operations, smooth traffic flow and standby and reserve operation of transport. SLOOC acquired 1,300 vehicles and 1,400 drivers from 540 agencies starting in March 1987, which saved money and helped establish a cooperation system with related agencies and citizens for smooth travel during the Games. These early efforts also ensured efficient transport for participants in the Opening Ceremony, who were able to avoid traffic jams. Some of the positive outcomes included vehicle sticker control and free visits to Olympic facilities for taxi drivers.


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MPC Shuttle Bus Operations

Route Days of Operation

Bus Operation

No. of buses No. of passengers

Hwarang Archery Field 5 15 595

Taereung International Shooting Range 7 23 1,250

Han River Regatta Course 13 37 2,057

Olympic Velodrome 3 12 903

Seoul Equestrian Park 11 32 1,158

Wondang Ranch 1 3 113

Suwon Gymnasium 11 38 1,119

Seongnam Gymnasium 13 44 1,539

Sangmu Gymnasium 10 38 2,258

Jangchung Gymnasium 11 36 1,269

Dongdaemun Gymnasium 4 8 276

Hanyang University Gymnasium 14 49 1,609

Saemaul Sports Hall 5 16 262

Seoul National University Gymnasium 8 24 1,061

Hilton Hotel 19 109 1,369

Total 484 16,838

IBC Bus Operations

Buses Minibuses Total

Type No. of buses used

No. of persons

transported

No. of buses used

No. of persons

transported

No. of buses used

No. of persons

transported

To venues 297 1,923 297 1,923

To quarters 1,303 32,588 213 1,355 1,516 33,943

To Opening & Closing

Ceremonies33 1,510 33 1,510

For departure 21 605 21 605

On request 6 373 16 181 22 554

Total 1,660 36,999 229 1,536 1,889 38,535


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Criteria for Allocating Exclusive Vehicles by Delegation Size

Size of delegation (persons) Cars Minibuses

1–25 1 0

26–50 1 1

51–100 2 1

101–200 3 1

201–300 3 2

301–400 3 3

401–500 4 3

More than 500 5 3

Press Village Shuttle Bus Operation by Date

RouteVillage-MPC Village-IBC

Village-Olympic Park-Sports

Complex-MPC-IBCTotal

No. of buses

No. of passengers

No. of buses

No. of passengers

No. of buses

No. of passengers

No. of buses

No. of passengers

2 Sept 1 55 1 10 2 65

3 4 112 6 80 10 192

4 4 200 6 95 10 295

5 4 304 6 114 10 418

6 4 394 6 165 10 559

7 4 475 8 432 12 907

8 6 851 8 278 14 1,129

9 6 1,406 8 390 14 1,796

10 6 1,370 8 413 14 1,783

11 6 1,269 8 464 14 1,733

12 10 2,044 11 541 21 2,584

13 13 2,514 11 849 24 3,363

14 13 3,166 10 995 23 4,161

15 14 3,323 10 947 24 4,270

16 16 3,996 10 1,034 26 5,030

17 13 2,533 10 878 11 440 34 3,851

18 16 3,337 19 1,085 20 2,981 55 7,403

19 18 3,309 16 1,178 21 2,426 55 6,913


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RouteVillage-MPC Village-IBC

Village-Olympic Park-Sports

Complex-MPC-IBCTotal

No. of buses

No. of passengers

No. of buses

No. of passengers

No. of buses

No. of passengers

No. of buses

No. of passengers

20 16 3,362 17 955 22 2,496 55 6,813

21 17 3,467 17 1,632 22 3,120 56 8,219

22 19 3,325 15 934 22 2,468 56 6,727

23 21 3,191 17 973 23 3,638 61 7,802

24 19 3,062 17 869 19 3,619 55 7,550

25 19 3,352 17 960 21 3,420 57 7,732

26 19 3,689 17 965 22 2,582 58 7,236

27 19 3,947 17 968 22 2,004 58 6,919

28 19 2,990 16 832 22 2,757 57 6,579

29 19 3,098 15 824 24 2,660 58 6,582

30 19 3,366 15 882 24 2,856 58 7,104

1 Oct 20 3,280 15 786 23 2,511 58 6,577

2 16 2,610 11 907 17 2,144 44 5,661

3 3 962 3 235 6 1,197

4 2 118 1 55 3 173

5 1 26 1S 2 26

Total 406 74,503 373 22,725 335 42,122 1,114 139,350

Press Villages

A total of 5,186 members of the press from 111 countries stayed at the Press Villages, which consisted of 36 buildings with 1,848 apartment units and 5,719 rooms. There were also arcades. This complex was the first one since the Munich Olympics, and it was designed to meet accommodations requirements for luxury amenities at a reasonable price for the mass media.

Hotel services were directly involved in running the Press Villages to maintain service on par with hotels. Deposits were made upon registration, with an adjustment to be made on departure. Minimal facilities were provided, but additional services were available on a lease basis.


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Some members of the media wanted full hotel services, but some of the housekeeping personnel, for example, were volunteers from good families, and any misconduct was not tolerated. All visitors had to be either be met in the visitors’ lounge or receive clearance to be allowed into rooms with passes. SLOOC meals were served at two basement-level restaurants with vouchers that cost 2,000 won; a total of 130,131 vouchers were issued.

The Press Villages were constructed by Seoul City based on advance sales to Seoul citizens, as housing demand is very high in Korea. This arrangement contributed greatly to profits for SLOOC, which in turn founded the Sports Foundation to help sports federations on a long-term basis. The apartments were completed on 31 May, and infrastructure and furnishings were installed in time for the 1 September opening.

In all, 5,686 people from 11 countries stayed at the Press Villages during the Games, including 1,974 representing electronic media, 3,152 representing print media and 60 others. The US alone had 1,350 media representatives, whilst the USSR had only 45. Cuba, which did not participate in the Games, had two representatives in the Press Villages. The IOC did not allow Cuban officials to attend, but members of the press were allowed to come to Seoul. The price was US$65 per day for a Class A room and US$55 for a single (US$45 for Class B), or US$80 for a twin, breakfast included. Rooms were available on a reservation basis. Full payment had to be made upon registration and a full accounting upon departure. Members of the media had to register for at least 10 days. A minimum of 17 days had originally been discussed in accordance with the practice in LA, but this was later reduced. Total earnings came out to US$6.65 million.

The press dining room, press grill and snack bars were operated by Lotte and Shilla Hotels. The press had to work during the day at the venues and sites, but they also had to sleep soundly and have something to eat at night. A food tasting was held at the Shilla Hotel on 25 May, and 107 dishes were prepared. Also available were leisure facilities, Korea Exchange Bank


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branches, a post office, telephone and telegraph bureaus, a photo lab, a laundry shop, a beauty parlour, a shopping centre, a beer hall, a repair shop and a billiards hall.

The press was important for the Games, and members needed both the best working conditions and the best living conditions during their down time.

Broadcasters vehemently questioned whether they should have to pay the 10 per cent telephone tax and defence tax on telephone services. SLOOC recommended to the government that the defence tax be waived, and it covered the telephone tax itself in accordance with the law.

The Press Villages dispensed a total of 1,188,237 items at a total cost of 4.5 billion won. There was one telephoned bomb threat along with seven loss reports, two emergency sick calls and 130 other reports, but no serious security breach was registered.

A Sub Press & Broadcasting Centrr was located at the Press Villages for the convenience of the media. Volunteers from abroad helped out a lot with language difficulties. On the down side, prices at the Press Village restaurant were a little high.

Accommodations

Accommodations are always a big requirement for any Olympic organising city. Los Angeles had some problems, but I also knew that whilst there tends to be shortage of rooms before the Games, they become available once the event starts. That happened in Los Angeles and other cities. Still, we had to prepare for the maximum requirement in accordance with the rules of the Olympics, precedent and tourist needs.

SLOOC did not have to worry about tourists. The city of Seoul, Transportation Ministry and Korea National Tourism Corporation were


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all working to draw the maximum number of tourists and help SLOOC accommodate the Olympic Family.

SLOOC wanted to ensure first-class hotel rooms at tourist hotels, which totalled 16,000 at the time with the projected completion of new luxury hotels such as the Intercontinental, Lotte New World, Ramada Renaissance and Riviera. But it was unable to do so because the tourism authorities insisted that they also needed to consider the long-term development of the tourism industry in Korea. SLOOC was only able to acquire 7,700 of the 16,000 first-class hotel rooms it wanted; the rest were left in the hands of hotels and travel agencies. SLOOC requested that the Transportation Minister administer these 8,300 rooms, but the request was rejected. SLOOC wanted the Tourism Corporation to administer all 8,300 rooms, but this request too was refused. Keeping prices at a stable level was another important concern.

SLOOC had to accommodate 9,240 members of the Olympic Family – not including athletes and officials who would be in the Athletes’ and Press Villages – in the 7,700 rooms that it had acquired at first-class hotels, along with another 5,150 people in the 4,120 rooms of the Family Apartments. The 6,000 representatives of print and electronic media would be allocated 5,620 rooms in the Press Villages, and 13,674 athletes and officials would live in the 12,300 rooms of the Olympic Athletes’ Village.

Tourists were to be accommodated in 8,800 rooms at first-class tourist hotels, 8,400 rooms in the Family Apartment Town, 9,440 rooms at designated inns and second-class hotels and 500 home-stay rooms. In all, 238,364 personnel were to be allocated 57,100 rooms. As a rule, reservations were for 18 days to avoid later cancellations and vacancies that would cause imbalances in supply and demand, but the Press Villages had a 10-day minimum with flexibility exercised in many cases.

More problems occurred with those who did not fall into the Olympic category but were still considered of equivalent importance to Olympic


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Family members, VIPs and VIP associates. SLOOC kept some reserves on standby for this purpose. Our goal was to try to always maintain flexibility without breaking our fundamental principles – which was a better approach than strict and inflexible application of the rules.

If the Queen and Crown Prince of Spain did come as our state guests, SLOOC already had enough suites and rooms reserved. As more and more Cabinet ministers and entourage members arrived, we had to provide enough rooms for our guests. The Lausanne Chamber Orchestra was to stay in the Family Town because that was where cultural groups were accommodated. The orchestra wanted to stay at Swiss Grand Hotel, but all of the new hotels had been completely blocked out by SLOOC. I found out from the Accommodation Department director that he could move other guests to other hotels. A last-minute decision was made on the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, which consisted of fully 120 people; their reason was they did not want to be separated from their managers and conductors. Through the Dong-A Ilbo, they were able to acquire enough rooms at Lotte Hotel. Ruben Acosta of volleyball wanted a big suite at the Sheraton, but none was available. Instead, we combined three rooms to make a suite and conference room.

On the whole, there was an imbalance of supply and demand, leading to growing pressure and requests from non-Olympic Family members to the SLOOC, which was actually only in charge of the Olympic Family. We had to organise many meetings with officials and the inn association to enlist all available rooms. Hotels had 8,300 of the best rooms, and there were also rooms available at first- and second-class hotels – but they were responding to all requests by saying that SLOOC was in charge of all rooms in Seoul. This had to be cleared up. As expected, rooms did become available once the Games started – apart from peak days – and we even started to see ordinary guests at the Main Hotel, which was not supposed to admit outside people. As Main Hotel, the Shilla Hotel was operating on a contract basis


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with the IOC after SLOOC assigned all room allocation authority to Mme Zweifel of the IOC. In exchange, SLOOC had had to pay a lot for accessory building construction at the Shilla.

The Shilla has 660 rooms, but we later discovered that 30 of the rooms were being rented on long-term lease by the hotel. This was wrong on their part, but we managed the situation by giving an equal number of rooms at other hotels to the IOC. The Main Hotel is the centre of command and control for the Olympic Games; it is more than a social setting or place of accommodation. We needed offices, conference rooms, meeting places, press rooms and rooms for the solidarity, medical and marketing commissions. When Park Seh-jik and I went with SLOOC staff to inspect the Shilla Hotel’s preparations as the Olympic Main Hotel, we encountered issues with the press centre, which needed to have enough space for 300 press representatives. The IOC wanted the Italian restaurant on the basement level, whilst Shilla was suggesting a small anteroom at the health centre. I had to be very tough to get what the IOC and the press wanted.


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Daily Weather during the Games

Date Weather Temperature

17 Sept Generally clear 17–28°C

18 Clear, then cloudy 17–27°C

19 Cloudy with scattered rain 19–26°C

20 Partly cloudy 18–26°C

21 Generally clear 14–27°C



24 Generally cloudy 16–23°C






30 Very cloudy 13–25°C

1 Oct Partly cloudy 14–26°C


Village OperationAthletes & officials staying by day

Date No. staying Check-in (Cumulative)

Check-out (Cumulative)

Athletes (A) & Officials (O)

17 Sept 13,307 83 (13,346) 34 (39) A: 8,660

O: 4,647

18 13,392 86 (13,432) 1 (40) A: 8,708O: 4,684

19 13,643 260 (13,692) 9 (49) A: 8.893O: 4,750

20 13,989 366 (14,058) 20 (69) A: 9,148O:4,481


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Date No. staying Check-in (Cumulative)

Check-out (Cumulative)

Athletes (A) & Officials (O)

21 14,036 149 (14,207) 102 (171) A: 9,150O:4,886

22 14,075 70 (14,277) 31 (202) A: 9,178O: 4,807

23 14,042 72 (14,349) 105 (307) A: 9,146O: 4,896

24 13,857 107 (14,456) 292 (599) A: 9,002O: 4,855

25 13,588 17 (14,473) 286 (885) A: 8,805O: 4,783

26 13,109 41 (14,514) 520 (1,405) A: 8,454O: 4,655

27 12,209 3 (14,517) 903 (2,308) A: 7,791O: 4,418

28 11,349 22 (14,539) 882 (3,190) A: 7,198O: 4,151

29 10,742 11 (14,550) 618 (3,808) A: 6,768O: 3,974

30 10,207 3 (14,553) 538 (4,346) A: 6,378O: 3,829

1 Oct 9,605 5 (14,558) 607 (4,953) A: 5,981O: 3,624

2 8,800 1 (14,559) 806 (5,759) A: 5,482O: 3,318

3 4,480 0 (14,559) 4,320 (10,079) A: 2,791O: 1,689

4 2,051 0 (14,559) 2,430 (12,508) A: 1,263O: 788


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Olympic Village Housing by Type

Classification 112 m2 132 m2 155 m2 169 m2 Total

No. of Buildings 10 10 7 9 36

No. of Housing Units 864 472 260 152 1,748

No. of Bedrooms 2,592 1,416 1,440 608 6,056

Snacks, Entertainment and Other Amenities

Facility No. of customers

Amount spent (1,000s of Korean won unless otherwise noted)

Total 330,900

Bank 49,000 US$15,140

Post Office 215,000 130,780

Telecommunication 20,300 279,380

Sport Equipment Repair Centre 27,200

Photo Shop 19,000 47,600

HAM 100

Express Parcel 300

Shopping Centre 95,000 476,300

Laundry 400 1,120

Coffee Shop 7,800 1,570

Beauty Shop 3,100 15,700

Game Room 13,000

Dance Room 13,300

Art Studio 185 1,100

Swimming Pool/Sauna 19,000

Circuit Training 9,000

Billiards 4,300

Table Tennis 5,000

Tennis 1,300

Religion Hall 9,220

Theatre 11,000


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Beverage & Food Consumption

Item Specifications Unit Quantity

Coca-Cola 355m x 24250m x 30

5 G/L

BoxBox

Syrup

7809,793911

Fanta - Orange 355m x 24 Box

- Grape 250m x 305 G/L

250m x 30

BoxSyrupBox

6,075649264

Cider 355m x 24250m x 30

5 G/L

BoxBox

Syrup

4323,390348

Hi-C - Orange 200g x 30 Box 3,228

- Apple 250g x 301.4kg x 6 Cans

BoxSyrup

1,3421,920

- Grape 250g x 24200g x 30250g x 24

SyrupSyrup 2,090

Water 0.51.55

LL

G/L

286,704330,48021,244

Total 638,428

Milk Packet 100,600

Bread Piece 133,652

Instant Noodles Piece 46,512

Ice Cream Piece 12,204

Beer 355m x 24 Box 2,088

Coffee C/N 192

Creamer P/B 126


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Packed Lunches Supplied

Date Lunch Supper Total

6 Sept 74 0 74

7 98 0 98

8 101 0 101

9 31 0 31

10 141 0 141

11 139 0 139

12 183 0 183

13 238 0 238

14 514 5 519

15 476 0 476

16 531 1 532

17 205 140 345

18 1,077 61 1,138

19 1,169 119 1,288

20 1,171 123 1,294

21 1,147 132 1,279

22 1,208 88 1,296

23 1,412 75 1,487

24 1,315 77 1,392

25 838 103 941

26 1,171 69 1,240

27 1,393 168 1,561

28 1,215 98 1,313

29 1,094 197 1,291

30 852 100 952

1 Oct 591 79 670

2 449 0 449

Total 18,833 1,635 20,468


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Meal Ingredients

Meat Pork Chicken Mutton

100 tons 80 tons 125 tons 15.8 tons

Fish Vegetable Egg Rice Fruit

35.1 tons 443 tons 2 million 33 tons 400 tons

Persons Receiving Medical Treatment by Event

Place/ Venue Athletes/ Officials

Press Members

Operations Personnel

Spectators/ Other Total

Archery 1 2 98 49 150

Athletics 36 79 416 413 944

Basketball 6 9 264 184 463

Boxing 49 16 301 69 435

Canoeing/Rowing 31 6 213 30 280

Cycling 18 1 109 10 138

Equestrian 14 19 501 157 691

Fencing 13 4 407 12 436

Football (Dongdaemun) 25 10 35

Football (Busan) 3 101 58 162

Football (Daegu) 36 30 66

Football (Daejeon) 10 1 98 32 141

Football (Gwangju) 1 73 42 116

Gymnastics 30 22 211 148 411

Handball 8 26 132 28 194

Hockey 19 207 269 495

Judo/Taekwondo 26 9 226 176 437

Shooting 8 5 162 23 198

Swimming 40 29 300 20 389

Table Tennis 24 5 293 99 421

Tennis 20 10 283 70 383

Volleyball 7 5 229 179 420

Weightlifting 17 105 122

Wrestling 62 168 130 360

Yachting 103 7 918 42 1,070

Baseball 17 448 144 609


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Place/ Venue Athletes/ Officials

Press Members

Operations Personnel

Spectators/ Other Total

Subtotal (Venues) 563 255 6,324 2,424 9,566

Main Hotel 30 19 328 186 563

Family Town 55 288 110 453

IBC 13 480 655 66 1,214

Youth Camp 212 383 595

Press Village 28 1,031 2,715 2 3,776

MPC 2 362 1,394 1 1,759

Reception Headquarters 31 31

Village Medical Centre 5,899 21 2,204 102 8,226

Village Clinic 3,185 80 3,265

Busan Sub-Village 126 479 605

Daegu Sub-Village 4 69 73

Daejeon Sub-Village 10 117 127

Gwangju Sub-Village 2 144 146

Patients Evacuated 51 16 61 86 214

Subtotal (Sites) 6,220 1,929 11,882 1,016 21,047

Total 6,783 2,184 18,206 3,440 30,613

Result of Doping Analysis

Date Sporting Event Result Country Medal Position

19 Sept Modern Pentathlon Caffeine (16.0 ppm) AUS

19 Sept Weightlifting Furosemide BUL Gold

21 Sept Modern Pentathlon Propranolol ESP

21 Sept Weightlifting Pemoline ESP

21 Sept Weightlifting Furosemide BUL Gold

22 Sept Weightlifting Stanozolol HUN

24 Sept Athletics Stanozolol CAN Gold

26 Sept Weightlifting Stanozolol HUN Silver

27 Sept Wrestling Furosemide AFG

27 Sept Judo Furosemide GBR Bronze


299

Blood Samples Collected for Doping Testing by Sport

Sport 9.17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 10.1 2 Total

Archery 4 4 4 8 8 28

Athletics 16 16 25 36 23 21 24 46 10 217

Basketball 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 16 8 16 16 8 100

Boxing 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 10 12 12 58

Canoeing 4 4 4 4 17 18 51

Cycling 10 10 14 16 10 22 7 7 96

Equestrian 1 1 4 1 1 1 4 2 15

Fencing 1 5 5 5 4 6 6 6 6 44

Football 8 4 4 16

Gymnastics 6 8 2 2 2 2 6 4 2 34

Handball 12 8 12 8 12 8 12 12 16 8 108

Hockey 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 6 6 8 8 44

Judo 6 4 6 6 6 6 6 40

Modern Pentathlon 6 6 24 6 42

Rowing 14 28 28 70

Shooting 9 9 9 10 5 10 10 62

Swimming 4 16 4 22 22 22 24 28 2 6 16 16 182

Table Tennis 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 8 8 39

Tennis 4 3 3 2 2 6 4 6 6 36

Volleyball 4 8 12 8 12 8 12 8 12 8 8 8 4 8 120

Weight-lifting 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 2 4 60

Wrestling 5 5 14 13 12 5 5 14 14 12 99

Yachting 5 5 5 5 5 2 5 5 37

Total 10 56 69 86 117 115 115 160 130 113 87 107 118 131 152 32 1,598

With President Samaranch at a taekwondo game during the Seoul Olympics (1988)

Chapter 12

Marketing and Finance


302

Balancing the Books

A Western observer once said there are three types of countries that can organise the Olympic Games: a rich country like America; a totalitarian country like the Soviet Union, which can spend as much as it likes; and a small fearless country like Korea. After seven years, Korea emerged from the ranks of fearless, small developing countries.

With any Olympic Games, finances represent the biggest issue. The city of Los Angeles decided not to allow the Games to become a burden on citizens or taxpayers. Finances became a serious consideration after the Montreal Games, which claimed a large financial loss, and with the expanded scale and cost of the Games.

Achieving a financial balance depends on how organisers account for indirect social overhead investment. The balance of income and expenditures also depends on how direct investment is combined with administration of the Games. Nowadays, the tendency is to separate these two types of investment. The Los Angeles Olympics announced a profit of US$250 million. This is because LA had US$750 million in income, and out of that amount only US$500 million had been deducted for operations. The Los Angeles OOC did not have to build infrastructure as Montreal or Seoul were compelled to do. If investment is separated into operations and indirect investment, there has likely not been a single Olympic Games that has lost money.

Tallying Up the Income

At the end of the Seoul Games, SLOOC announced that it expected a profit of US$200 million, although much of this profit came from apartment sales and premiums collected in accordance with government policy. Later,

Chapter 12 Marketing and Finance

303

SLOOC announced that the total profits were close to US$500 million. Of course, this figure included US$80 million in donations and US$300 million in apartment sale premiums.

At the time of SLOOC’s dissolution on 2 April 1989, SLOOC announced a profit of US$497 million. The total tally shows earnings of US$987.5 million with expenditures of US$847.17 million, yielding a book profit of US$139.8 million. But this figure did not include cash contributions and premiums on apartment sales, which together amounted to US$355.4 million. TV rights generated US$332 million, followed by US$199.8 million from sales of coins and medals, US$175.8 million from lotteries, US$105.5 million from marketing and US$161.5 million in premium commissions from apartment sales. These figures will have to be adjusted later because of repurchases and melting of some unsold coins, which should amount to almost US$10 million.

These days, TV rights are still the major source of Olympic income. However, marketing has come to account for a larger portion today. SLOOC signed sponsorship contracts with 23 companies, 57 corporations as official suppliers and 62 corporations as licensees. The IOC started the Top I Programme with Lucerne-based ISL, which includes investment by Adidas and Dentsu at a 51:49 ratio. It was designed to incorporate marketing for both the Winter and Summer Games with the NOCs under one umbrella. The Seoul Games had contracts with Kodak, Coca-Cola, Visa, 3M, Time Inc., Philips International and Matsushita Electric. The Top II Programme is also underway. Fifty-seven suppliers each provided SLOOC with goods worth US$2 million. Licensees were smaller and more interested in publicising their commodities and products. Hyundai Motor, for example, provided 430 sedans worth 1 billion won, and Brothers Machine provided 3,400 typewriters worth US$1 million. Advertisements in subways and buses were also important income sources. Twenty-eight kinds of postage stamps were issued, with sales amounting to 2.1 billion


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won.Investment in the Seoul Olympics included US$1.7 billion in indirect

investment by the public sector and US$1.5 billion in direct and private sector investment and operation of the Games by SLOOC. Some projects – the yachting site, for example – were funded with investment by Daewoo. In the case of the Misari rowing and canoeing regatta course, two-thirds of the investment was from the Gyeonggi Provincial Government and one-third from SLOOC. KBS invested in full in the construction of the IBC – which ended up being the source of major disputes between SLOOC and KBS over the sharing of the US$125 million TV installations fund that the IOC had set aside for the Seoul Olympics.

Dividing Up the Proceeds

Many people have questions about TV rights fees and how the money is distributed. Out of the total fees, the IOC sets aside 20 per cent for the OCOG as a TV installations fund. In the case of Seoul, 20 per cent would have amounted to only US$80 million, but Samaranch accepted a request from President Roh Tae-woo to assist Seoul’s effort and allotted another US$45 million, for a total of US$125 million. The rest was divided into three parts. The first third was for the IOC, which the IOC divided into three further parts – one for the IOC, one for the 23 IFs to divide among themselves and one for the NOC solidarity fund. The remaining two-thirds remain with the OCOG.

In the case of Seoul, US$125 million was set aside by the IOC for broadcasting facilities and US$92 million was shared by the IOC, the IFs and the NOC solidarity fund, whilst US$320 million, including the installations fund, stayed with SLOOC. Out of the IOC’s one-third share, the IOC paid transportation and lodging for eight persons per NOC plus


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US$8,000 for equipment and US$500 each for up to six athletes per NOC. Also, the IOC paid travel expenses, including lodging and air travel, for 1,200 referees and judges.

The Olympic Charter states that profits from celebrating the Olympic Games belong to the IOC, which reserves the right to allocate funds to the OCOG, IFs and NOCs. It further states in Rule 10 that any surplus derived from the holding of the Olympic Games must be applied to the promotion of the Olympic Movement or to the development of sport. The IOC usually receives 3 per cent of the profits for use of the Olympic rings by the OCOG in its marketing. In the case of Seoul, the IOC received US$1.75 million against US$150 million in profits, outside of donations and apartment sale commissions. Samaranch accepted the SLOOC’s request to separate donations and apartment sale premiums out of net profits from operations.

In any case, there was no reduction or refunding of TV rights fees as feared, nor was there any serious legal case or non-settlement of accounts in the case of marketing. The only problem that arose was in coin sales. SLOOC had to buy some unsold coins from Monum and have them melted down at its expense, even paying the balance between the denomination value and weight value.

With the full cooperation of international business and the patriotic devotion of the Korean public and business community, Seoul carried on from LA in registering more black ink for Olympic finances with its successful organisation. Following its dissolution, SLOOC, as mandated in the Olympic Charter, will spend its profits through national sports foundations for the development of sports.

Seoul has announced a plan to establish a ‘Peace Prize’ in commemoration of the Games of the XXIV Olympiad. The prize is currently under examination, but the plan is to award it every two years starting in 1990. Seoul thus hopes to symbolise the success of the Olympic Movement through the quest for better lives and everlasting peace.


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Commemorative Medals Issued

Type Diameter (m/m)

Weight (g)

Combination (%)

Total Issued (1,000s)

Home Abroad Total

50,000 won Gold 35 33,626 Gold 92.5, Silver 3.0, Bronze 4.5 30 90 120

25,000 won Gold 27 16,813 Gold 92.5, Silver 3.0, Bronze 4.5 120 520 640

10,000 won Silver 40 33.62 Silver 92.5, Bronze 7.5 600 1,300 1,900

5,000 won Silver (I) 32 16.81 Silver 92.5, Bronze 7.5 500 900 1,400

5,000 won Silver (II) 32 16.81 Silver 92.5, Bronze 7.5 500 900 1,400

2,000 won Nickel 33 17 Nickel 100 1,680 1,120 2,800

1,000 won Cupro-nickel 30 12 Bronze 75, Nickel 25 1,680 1,120 2,800

Total 5,110 5,950 11,060

Commemorative Coin Sales

Type of Coins Face Value (won)

Selling Price (won)

Amount of Sales (sets/pieces)

Sets (Proof Coins)

All coin set of seven types 98,000 125,000 30,000

Six-type set 48,000 480,000 48,742

Five-type set 23,000 80,000 200,000

Four-type set 40,000 120,000 17,565

Pieces 25,000 won Gold 25,000 350,000 35,516

10,000 won Silver 10,000 28,000 203,463

5,000 won Silver (I) 5,000 14,000 213,491

5,000 won Silver (II) 5,000 14,000 202,979

2,000 won Nickel 2,000 2,400 1,163,485

1,000 won Cupro-nickel 1,000 1,200 1,392,105


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Commemorative Stamps Issued

Date of Issuance Types Designs Number Issued Price (won)

20 March 1985 2 Flag, Mascot Stamps: 9,000 per type100 won

(face value 70 + fund 30)

10 June 1985 2 Athletics, Rowing Sheets: 1,500 per type

16 September 1985 2 Basketball, Boxing

1 November 1985 2 Cycling, Canoeing

26 March 1986 4 Fencing, Gymnastics, Equestrian, Football Stamps: 5,000 per type 130 won

(face value 80 + fund 50)10 October 1986 2 Weightlifting, Handball Sheets: 500 per type

1 November 1986 2 Judo, Hockey

25 May 1987 4 Wrestling, Swimming, Tennis, Modern Pentathlon Stamps: 5,000 per type 130 won

(face value 80 + fund 50)10 October 1987 4 Shooting, Archery,

Volleyball, Table Tennis Sheets: 500 per type

5 March 1988 2 Yachting, Taekwondo Stamps: 3,000 per typeSheets: 300 per type

100 won (face value 80

+ fund 20)

6 May 1988 2 Torch Relay, Olympic Stadium

Stamps: 3,000 per typeSheets: 400 per type

100 won (face value 80

+ fund 20)

16 September 1988 4

Baron de Coubertin and Olympic Circles, Seoul

Olympic Commemoration Sculpture, Mass Game,

Cityscape of Seoul

Stamps: 5,000 per typeSheets: 500 per type 80 won

Sydney Olympics North-South Korea Joint March (2000)

Chapter 13

The World to Seoul, Seoul to the World


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Restoring the Games to their Original Purpose, Succeeding through National Unity and International Cooperation, Remembering the Biggest and Best Games Ever

Some people say the Games of the XXIV Olympiad in Seoul had the best facilities and the most participation with 160 countries. Others say the Korean Games will be remembered for doping, Ben Johnson and the boxing incident. It is true that many events will be remembered.

The Seoul Olympics were the largest festival of mankind in peacetime and the Games that brought the Olympic Movement back to its original purpose: bringing together the young athletes of the world in one place; transcending barriers of sex, religion, race and political creed; reinforcing friendship and goodwill; and helping to build a better, more peaceful world.

The 1988 Olympiad was the largest in scale with 13,600 athletes and officials from 160 countries representing both East and West, after 12 years of political tainting that had begun with the Montreal Olympics in 1976. The facilities and infrastructure in Seoul were some of the most modern in the world, and the achievements by athletes were among the most record-breaking in Olympic history. Steffi Graf, Matt Biondi, Kristin Otto, Elena Shushunova, Carl Lewis, Florence Griffith-Joyner, Jiao Jimin, Aurelia Dobre and Ben Johnson were all there. The Seoul Games were a perfect example of international cooperation and goodwill. President Juan Antonio Samaranch stood always at the forefront of the three pillars of the Olympic Movement – the IOC, the IFs and the NOCs – and accomplished something that only the Olympic Games could accomplish. It is an act that may be difficult for others to follow.

Some observers have commented that the Seoul Games were a perfect example of what a divided and developing country could accomplish. Others say that Koreans overcame political handicaps, boycott threats and terrorist threats and even the weather. David Miller of the Times of London

Chapter 13 The World to Seoul, Seoul to the World

311

said that Koreans displayed an American sense of money, the organisational skills of Germans and the courtesy and culture characteristic of the Orient.

Korean people were proud of hosting the largest festival of mankind in peacetime and were united and devoted in making it a success. After the Games, Samaranch said, ‘Never before has a city, a people, a country devoted so much enthusiasm, goodwill, inventiveness and sacrifice in carrying out with zest, intelligence and organisational talent that we have seen, the mission entrusted to them by the IOC in 1981 in Baden-Baden. It was phenomenal and universal. Friendship and goodwill were everywhere.’

Korean pride and unity led to remarkable achievements in the political, economic, cultural, diplomatic, scientific, academic, medical, tourism and sports fields. With the impetus of these accomplishments the future holds limitless possibilities. The event provided Koreans with the best opportunities to show to the world who they were and what they had accomplished since the end of the Korean War. The rapid economic development of the preceding 10 years helped Seoul to produce a record-breaking profit from the Games. To Koreans, the words ‘Seoul to the World and the World to Seoul’ meant a lot.

This success owes itself entirely to the total commitment and devotion shown by the Korean people. They were inexperienced when they first won the Games, but they learned fast. They have shown their abilities and potential. Unity and commitment brought together the best kind of cooperation and support from the government, political parties of both governing and opposition camps and social groups. Koreans overcame many weaknesses, such as language barriers and student unrest. The cooperation and support of the world and Olympic Family members were also key factors. Even the weather helped.

The Seoul Games took place under the motto of ‘Harmony and Progress’, with the five goals of maximum participation, harmony, the highest standard of achievement, security and service, economy and


312

efficiency. All of these goals were achieved. Korea finished fourth in the overall medal standings, and Korean sports have been propelled forward to rank among the leading sports movements in the world.

The Seoul Olympics also had a substantial influence on the democratisation of South Korea. Following the Olympics, we were able to affirm our national pride and power of unity; by demonstrating our achievements and capability to the world, we were able to begin a more mature leap forward in various fields such as politics, society, diplomacy and culture.

In addition, the Seoul Olympics also played the role of catalyst in the democratisation of Eastern European countries, as manifested in the establishment of diplomatic relationships. Already, President Roh Tae-woo has held a South Korea-USSR summit with President Mikhail Gorbachev, and South Korea is establishing relations with the USSR in politics, diplomacy, economic cooperation, academics, cultural exchange and various other fields. We have further established diplomatic relationships with Hungary, Romania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.

Seoul Games will be long remembered, and its effects will be everlasting. It will serve as a stepping stone for future Olympic Games and for a clear direction to the Olympic Movement.

As the leader of the Olympic Movement, the IOC is preparing to move into the twenty-first century. It is faced with many difficult issues to resolve: commercialisation, doping, technological development, sports for all, education, amateurism and more. These will be challenges, but challenges that can be overcome.

The Olympic Movement stands for a better and more peaceful world.

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List of IOC Members (As of December 1998)

Year Elected Name Country

1 1963 Joao HAVELANGE Brazil

2 1963 Marc HODLER Switzerland

3 1964 SAR Prince Alexandre de MERODE Belgium

4 1965 Mohammed MZALI Tunisia

5 1966 Juan Antonio SAMARANCH Spain

6 1966 Jan STAUBO Norway

7 1971 Vitaly SMIRNOV USSR

8 1973 Roy Anthony BRIDGE Jamaica

9 1973 Ashwini KUMAR India

10 1973 Keba MBAYE Senegal

11 1974 Mohamed ZERGUINI Algeria

12 1977 Peter TALLBERG Finland

13 1977 Richard Kevan GOSPER Australia

14 1977 Niels HOLST-SORENSEN Denmark

15 1977 Shagdarjav MAGVAN Mongolia

16 1977 Philipp von SCHOELLER Austria

17 1978 Hon. Tan Seri HAMZAH BIN HAJI ABU SAMAH Malaysia

18 1978 Richard W. POUND Canada

19 1981 Vladimir CERNUSAK Slovakia

20 1981 Nikos FILARETOS Greece

21 1981 Zhenliang HE People’s Republic of China

22 1981 Mme Flor ISAVA-FONSECA Venezuela

23 1982 Franco CARRARO Italy

24 1982 Phillip Walter COLES Australia

25 1982 Ivan DIBOS Peru

26 1982 Chiharu IGAYA Japan

27 1983 SAR Prince Faisal FAHD ABDUL AZIZ Saudi Arabia

28 1983 Anani MATTHIA Togo

29 1983 Roque Napoleon MUNOZ PENA Dominican Republic

30 1983 Pal SCHMITT Hungary

31 1984 SAS Princess Nora of LIECHTENSTEIN Liechtenstein

32 1985 Major General Henry Edmund Olufemi ADEFOPE Nigeria

33 1985 Francisco J. ELIZALDE Philippines

34 1985 SAS Prince Albert de MONACO Monaco


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35 1986 Dr Un-yong KIM South Korea

36 1986 Lambis W. NIKOLAOU Greece

37 1986 Miss Anita DEFRANTZ USA

38 1987 Ivan SLAVKOV Bulgaria

39 1987 Anton GEESINK Netherlands

40 1988 SAR Princess Royal Great Britain

41 1988 Fidel MENDOZA CARRASQUILLA Colombia

42 1988 Tay WILSON New Zealand

43 1988 Ching-Kuo WU Taiwan

44 1988 Ram RUHEE Mauritius

45 1988 Sinan ERDEM Turkey

46 1988 Willi KALTSCHMITT LUJAN Guatemala

47 1988 Major General Francis W. NYANGWESO Uganda

48 1988 Borislav STANKOVIC Yugoslavia

49 1989 Fernando Ferreira Lima BELLO Portugal

50 1989 Walther TROEGER Germany

51 1990 Mme Carol Anne LETHEREN Canada

52 1990 Shun-Ichiro OKANO Japan

53 1990 Richard L. CARRION Puerto Rico

54 1990 Dr Nat INDRAPANA Thailand

55 1990 Colonel Antonio RODRIGUEZ Argentina

56 1991 Denis OSWALD Switzerland

57 1991 Dr Jacques ROGGE Belgium

58 1991 Mario VAZQUEZ RANA Mexico

59 1991 Dr Thomas BACH Germany

60 1992 Dr Primo NEBIOLO Italy

61 1992 Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad AL-SABAH Kuwait

62 1994 James L. EASTON USA

63 1994 Craig REEDIE CBE Great Britain

64 1994 Mohamad Bob HASAN Indonesia

65 1994 Mario PESCANTE Italy

66 1994 Gerhard HEIBERG Norway

67 1994 Prof Arne LJUNGQVIST Sweden

68 1994 Austin Llewellyn SEALY Barbados

69 1994 Dr Robin MITCHELL Fiji

70 1994 Alpha Ibrahim DIALLO Guinea

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71 1994 Alex GILADY Israel

72 1994 Shamil TARPISCHEV Russian Federation

73 1994 Valeriy BORZOV Ukraine

74 1995 René FASEL Switzerland

75 1995 Jean-Claude KILLY France

76 1995 Sam RAMSAMY South Africa

77 1995 Reynaldo GONZALEZ LOPEZ Cuba

78 1995 Olegario VAZQUEZ RANA Mexico

79 1995 Antun VRDOLJAK Croatia

80 1995 Patrick HICKEY Ireland

81 1995 Toni KHOURI Lebanon

82 1995 Mme Vera CASLAVSKA Czech Republic

83 1995 Mustapha LARFAOUI Algeria

84 1996 Syed Shahid ALI Pakistan

85 1996 Ung CHANG North Korea

86 1996 Mme Gunilla LINDBERG Sweden

87 1996 Julio Cesar MAGLIONE Uruguay

88 1996 Kun-hee LEE South Korea

89 1996 Tomas Amos Ganda SITHOLE Zimbabwe

90 1996 Hein VERBRUGGEN Netherlands

91 1996 Ottavia CINQUANTA Italy

92 1996 SAR L’Infante Dona Pilar de BORBON Spain

93 1996 Guy DRUT France

94 1996 Mme Shengrong LU People’s Republic of China

95 1998 Mme Irena SZEWINSKA Poland

96 1998 SAR Prince Henri de LUXEMBOURG Luxembourg

97 1998 Major General Mounir SABET Egypt

98 1998 Mme Nawal EL MOUTAWAKEL BENNIS Morocco

99 1998 Meliton SANCHEZ RIVAS Panama

100 1998 Dr Leo WALLNER Austria

101 1998 SAR Le Prince d’ORANGE Netherlands

102 1998 Ser Miang NG Singapore

103 1998 Samih MOUDALLAL Syria


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Honorary IOC Members (1988)

Year elected Name Country

1959 Syed Wajid ALI Pakistan

1951 Count Jean de BEAUMONT France

1972 Berthold BEITZ Germany

1976 Matts CARLGREN Sweden

1990 Philippe CHATRIER France

1963 King CONSTANTINE of Greece Great Britain

1965 Gunnar ERICSSON Sweden

1969 Raymond GAFNER Switzerland

1982 Dame Mary Alison GLEN-HAIG, DBE Great Britain

1968 Dr Abdel Mohamed HALIM Sudan

1974 Dr Eduardo HAY Mexico

1981 Dr Günther HEIZE Germany

1970 Maurice HERZOG France

1970 Henry HSU Chinese Taipei

1946 SAR Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg Luxembourg

1976 Dr Kevin O’FLANAGAN Ireland

1964 Major Sylvio de MAGALHAES Brazil

1977 Roberto Guillermo PEPER Argentina

1972 Pedro RAMIREZ VASQUEZ Mexico

1961 Wlodzimierz RECZEK Poland

1976 Jose D. VALLARINO VERACIERTO Uruguay

1967 James WORRALL Canada

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Abbreviations

IOC International Olympic Committee

IF International Federation

NOC National Olympic Committee

OCOG Organising Committee of the Olympic Games

GAISF General Association of International Sports Federations

AIO Académie Internationale Olympique

ASOIF Association of Summer Olympic International Federations

AIWF Association of International Winter Sports Federations

ASIRF Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations

ANOC Association of National Olympic Committees

ACNOA Association des Comités Nationaux Olympiques d’Afrique

OCA Olympic Council of Asia

ODEPA Organización Deportiva Panamericana

ACNOE Association des Comités Nationaux Olympiques d’Europe

ONOC Oceania National Olympic Committees

AIPS Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive

FISU Federation Internationale du Sport Universitaire

LAOOC Los Angeles Olympic Organising Committee

SLOOC Seoul Olympic Organising Committee

COOB92 Barcelona Olympic Organising Committee

SACOG Seoul Asian Games Organising Committee


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TV & Radio

OTI South American Broadcasting Union

ABU Asia Broadcasting Union

OIRT East European Broadcasting Union

CBU Caribbean Broadcasting Union

URTNA African Broadcasting Union

ASBU Arab Broadcasting Union

KBS Korea Broadcasting Service

HB Host Broadcaster

MPC Main Press Centre

IBC International Broadcasting Centre

SPBC Sub Press & Broadcasting Centre

EBU European Broadcasting Union

NHK (Japan) Nippon Hoso Kyokai

SLOJP (Japan) Media Pool

NTV (Japan) Nippon TV

TBS (Japan) Tokyo Broadcasting System

ABC American Broadcasting Corporation

CBS Columbia Broadcasting Corporation

NBC National Broadcasting Corporation

SORTO Seoul Olympic Radio & Television Organisation

TWI Trans World International

ISL International Sports & Leisure

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International Sports Associations

Membership Adhésion

FAI Aeronautics Aéronautics

IAF Aikido Aikido

FITA Archery Tir à l’Arc

IAAF Athletics Athlétisme

IBF Badminton Badminton

FIB Bandy Bandy

IBA Baseball Baseball

FIBA Basketball Basketball

IBU Biathlon Biathlon

WCBS Billiard Sports Sports du Billiard

FIBT Bobsleigh Bobsleigh

IFBB Bodybuilding Culturisme

CMSB Boules Sport Sport Boules

FIQ Bowling Quilles

AIBA Boxing Boxe

ICF Canoeing Canoë

ICF Casting Casting

FICEP Catholic Sport Sport Catholique

WCF Curling Curling

UCI Cycling Cyclisme

IDSF Dance Sport Dance Sportive

FEL Equestrian Sport Sport Equestres

UER/ EBU

European Broadcasting Union Radio-Télévision Européenne

IFV Faustball Ballon au Poing

FIE Fencing Escrime

WFDF Flying Disc Disque Volant

FIFA Football Football

FIG Gymnastics Gymnastique

IHF Handball Handball

FIH Hockey Hockey

IIHF Ice Hockey Hockey sur Glace

FIPV Jai-Alai Peloe Vasca

IJF Judo Judo

JJIF Ju-Jitsu Ju-Jitsu


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FMK Karate Karaté

IKF Korfball Korfball

CSIT Labour Sport Sport du Travail

ILS Life Saving Sauvetage Aquatique

FIL Luge Luge de Course

MWU Maccabi Maccabi

IMGA Master Games Jeux de Maîtres

CISM Military Sport Sport Militaire

UIPM Modern Pentathlon Pentathlon Moderne

FIM Motorcycling Motorcyclisme

UIAA Mountaineering Alpinisme

IFNA Netball Netball

IOF Orienteering Course d’Orientation

PI Panathlon International Panathlon International

IPC Paralympic Committee Comité Paralympic

FIP Polo Polo

UIM Powerboating Motonautisme

IPF Powerlifting Powerlifting

IRF Racquetball Racquetball

FIRS Roller Skating Patinage à Roulettes

FISA Rowing Aviron

IRB Rugby Rugby

ISAF Sailing Voile

ISF School Sport Sport Scolaire

ISTAF Sepaktakraw Sepaktakraw

ISSF Shooting Sport Tir Sportive

ISU Skating Patinage

FIS Skiing Ski

FISB Skibob Skibob

IFSS Sleddog Course de Traîneaux à Chiens

ISF Softball Softball

ISTF Soft Tennis Soft Tennis

FIAS Sambo Sambo

IFSA Sport Acrobatics Sports Acrobatiques

FICS Sports Chiropractic Chiropratique Sportive

IAKS Sports Facilities Equipments de Sport

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FIMS Sports Medicine Médicine Sportive

AIPS Sports Press Presse Sportive

WSF Squash Squash

CMAS Subaquatics Activités Subaquatiques

ISA Surfing Surf

FINA Swimming Natation

ITTF Table Tennis Tennis de Table

WTF Taekwondo Taekwondo

ITF Tennis Tennis

FIC Time Keepers Chronométreurs

FIT Trampoline Trampoline

ITU Triathlon Triathlon

TWIF Tug of War Luffe à la Corde

FISU University Sport Sport Universitaire

FIVB Volleyball Volleyball

IWSF Water Skiing Ski Nautique

IWF Weightlifting Haltérophile

IWGA World Games Jeux Mondiaux

FILA Wrestling Lutte

IWUF Wushu Wushu

By Kim Un-yong - Olympic World Library

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