[서울1988올림픽이 평창2018성공의 길을 안내하다(Seoul 1988’s on-going success story Points way forward for PyeongChang 2018)서울올림픽 30주년 기념 제4편 스토리]
아래 글은 평창2018개회식을 앞두고 평창동계올림픽 해외홍보확산을 위한 인터뷰내용입니다.
서울1988올림픽은 개최 전까지 대한민국 국교수교국이 60개국 남직한 상태에서 159개국이 참가하여 외교 대박(Diplomatic Jackpot)을 터뜨렸던 대한민국외교사와 한국스포츠외교사의 분기점이었습니다.
서울1988올림픽이후 봇물처럼 터진 공산권 국가들과의 수교 릴레이는 대한민국이 세계사에서 중요한 이정표가 되었음을 증거하고 있습니다.
그 첫 단추는 헝가리와의 수교였습니다.
서울1988올림픽은 그 당시 근 20년간 표류하고 위기에 빠졌던 올림픽과 올림픽운동을 일취월장의 화합과 대 단합 그리고 황금알 낳는 올림픽거위로 변모시킨 일등공신임에 틀림 없다고 자부합니다.
동서독의 통일이 서울1988올림픽 개최 다음해에 전격 성사되었으며 그 후 2년 뒤인 1991년 소련 미하일 고르바초프(Michael Sergeyevich Gorbachev) 당서기장 겸 소련초대 대통령의 개혁(Perestroika) 개방(Glasnost)으로 이어지게 된 단초를 제공한 셈입니다.
(2008년 Beijinng올림픽에서 조우한 구 소련 출신으로 당시 국제체조연맹<FIG>회장 겸 최단기 IOC위원으로 역임한 Yuri Titov회장과 함께)
소련 위성국가들 중11개 독립국가연합(CIS: Commonwealth of Independent States/ 러시아 · 우크라이나 · 벨로루시 · 몰도바 · 카자흐스탄 · 우즈베키스탄 · 투르크메니스탄 · 타지키스탄 · 키르키즈스탄 · 아르메니아 · 아제르바이젠 공화국으로, 1993년 그루지야가 가입함으로써 12개국으로 확대됨)들은 브레즈네프 독트린/(Brezhnev Doctrine)에 의해서 이어졌던 압박과 속박의 사슬을 1989년 10월 28일 바르샤바 조약기구 외무장관회의에서 브레즈네프 독트린이 공식적으로 폐지됨으로써 대거 자주독립하는 도화선으로 작용한 계기가 서울1988올림픽이라고 세계사 적으로 재 조명 받아야 마땅하다고 생각합니다.
“1986년 미국과 소련이 아이슬란드에서 정상회담을 갖고 군축에 합의했다. 그해 소련 체르노빌에서 원자로가 폭발했다.
1988년 카자흐스탄, 아르메니아, 아제르바이잔, 에스토니아 등이 소련 정부에 독립을 요구했다.
1991년 소련 인민대표회의가 모든 소비에트 공화국들의 독립을 허용하고, 이듬해 1월 1일을 기해 소비에트 연방이 공식적으로 해체되었다” (출처: Daum백과)
따라서 서울올림픽은 동서 냉전 종식의 결정적 계기가 되었으며 30주년을 맞이한 금년 노벨 평화상 후보로 추천되어 그 의미와 기여도를 재 조명하였으면 하는 바램입니다.
필자가 서울1988하계올림픽과 평창2018 동계올림픽조직위원회에서 30년 세월을 이어 근무함으로써 대한민국 동 하계올림픽역사의 증인으로 2017년 중반기와 2018년 1월 두 차례 서울올림픽기념관을 배경으로 미국 NBC TV와 같은 취지에서 유사한 인터뷰를 한 바 있습니다.
다음은 같은 맥락에서 해외언론대상으로 행한 영어 인터뷰 내용을 요약 정리한 것입니다:
In his final remarks during the Closing Ceremony, the then President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Juan Antonio Samaranch declared the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games to be “the best and most universal Games in history”.
It is extraordinary to consider that 30 years on Seoul 1988 still has a legitimate claim to this title. One man who was at the heart of the first Olympic Games to take place on Korean soil, and finds himself in a similar position for the second, is certain that legacy – a word adored by the IOC – is key to this on-going success story.
“We deserved another gold medal for legacy, the Games gave people the idea of Korea as a developed country, it put us on the doorsteps of advanced countries,” said Rocky Kang-ro Yoon, who served as a special assistant to Executive President of the Seoul 1988 Organising Committee and is now special advisor to Hee-beom Lee, President of the PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee (POCOG).
“Now PyeongChang 2018 will put Korea in the middle row of advanced countries.”
Yoon has first-hand experience of Seoul’s hard legacy benefits.
“I used to live in the Seoul Olympic Village Apartment,” he said. “At the time we desperately needed more residential blocks. So they served a real purpose. It became a really popular place to live, and eventually one of the most expensive areas in Seoul.”
For a city that was in transition, the ’88 Games came at a perfect moment. Infrastructure was needed, and provided, in the shape of the Olympic Express Highway, a vital transport artery for the growing metropolis. Large areas were gentrified, with landscaping, construction and water purification taking place in and around the Han River and Seoul Olympic Park even got its own version of London’s Hyde Park. Most crucially of all, particularly for the Olympic movement’s global image, money was left over.
“We had a black ink budget from the Games, a much higher surplus than previous Games, US$350 million,” Yoon said. “We used it to create a Seoul Olympic Promotion Foundation, which acted like a bank for Korean sports.”
These tangible benefits were accompanied by something far more profound and ultimately, long-lasting.
“The Games did prompt the change in Korea to democracy, the June 29 declaration (1987) was made by Roh Tae-woo, the person who once served as President of the Seoul Olympic Games Organizing Committee (SLOOC) declared the Olympic Games open as President of the Republic of Korea,” Yoon explained. “It was a stepping stone.”
This huge change, as welcome as it was, does make Yoon’s and his colleagues’ task in attempting to ensure PyeongChang 2018 replicates its predecessor’s success story a lot trickier to achieve.
“The government at the time was a de-facto dictatorship, so everyone, including the corporate enterprises, followed instructions,” Yoon said of Korea in 1988. “There was no conflict of interests, one word and everything was done.
“Now we are a democracy in full bloom, it is very difficult for the government to control anything.”
The financial situation was also markedly different 30 years ago. In 1988, the local organising committee (SLOOC) had control of the sale of sponsorship and TV rights – Yoon remembers travelling to New York with the late LEE Young-ho, then-Executive President of SLOOC and Sport Minister to ink a global sales agreement with the agency IMG on behalf of NBC TV and in so doing Minister LEE “became the first person to sign a piece of paper and bring Korea a huge amount of money without selling anything”.
“Everything went smoothly, we had financial and political support, everything was opulent but these days we are under tight financial conditions,” Yoon confirmed. “Under those terms, Seoul ‘88 was paradise compared to PyeongChang 2018.”
Yoon, whose life has been dominated by the Olympic Games for the past 35 years, has passed on to POCOG as many of the lessons he’s learned as he can. Readers of this article should be pleased by one of his instructions.
“Tight finance is very important but well-spent money is better,” Yoon said. “We cut corners where we can but we have to spend money. Press relations for instance, we need to treat journalists as VIPs, the evaluation of the Games is down to their pens.”
Despite the restrictions on finances and the burdensome bureaucracy that come with democracy, Yoon does believe that PyeongChang 2018 will be a resounding success. Not only because POCOG won’t be “hammering and painting” during the Opening Ceremonies, like some recent hosts, but also because he sees the role of the local organising committee as having changed significantly since the Seoul edition.
“The IFs (international federations) in a close collaboration with relevant POCOG FAs (functional areas) will come and operate all the venues and competitions, the IBC will be controlled by OBS likewise with counterparts of the POCOG,, no problem. At the same time, POCOG, we also provide crucial Games-time services and logistics: transport, accommodation, volunteers,” he said.
And for the country itself, he sees similar PR benefits to those achieved in 1988 and all for a negligible cost.
“The budget spent on the Games is nothing, just imagine if you wanted to advertise a country on the BBC, NBC, the LA Times, The London Times, everywhere , you would spend 10-times more than the budget, but for the Games they all want to come and talk about us,” Yoon said.
“State of the art technologies will be shown through the Games. There will be cultural festivities available every day around the region. We have great natural surroundings of both the mountain and the ocean to enjoy. It’s a great opportunity to sell the Korean brand.”
It is perhaps too much of an ask for PyeongChang 2018 to match Seoul 1988 blow-for-blow, but Korea’s second attempt at hosting the world’s biggest sporting spectacle, may just give the Olympic movement a timely boost and set the stage for a successful Asian swing.
