For S. Korea, ’88 Games Are a Serious Business

From the pace and scope of preparations here, you would never know the next Summer Olympics still are almost four years away.

Just south of the city, a stunning 100,000-seat stadium has been dedicated. Taxi drivers are struggling with English lessons and officials are talking about a new image the 1988 Games will win for South Korea.

“The Olympics will give us true confidence as an internationally open and mature country,” said Kim Sang Pil, director of the Gold Star trading and manufacturing conglomerate. “It is a matter of national pride.”

Behind such statements are other, unstated hopes that the Olympics will promote investment and tourism in South Korea and score points in the country’s never-ending war of words with communist North Korea.

The only thing dampening euphoria here is rumblings from the Soviet Bloc that South Korea -- closely aligned with the United States and governed by a former general, Chun Doo Hwan -- is not the place for a supposedly apolitical event.

But South Korea is ignoring talk of a boycott and spending millions to see the Games through. It has pledged free access for athletes from all countries, including North Korea, and pledged to guarantee their security.

In September, tens of thousands of Seoul residents turned out for the dedication of the Olympic stadium, built at a cost of $57 million. The gentle curves of its silhouette are said to have been inspired by porcelain works from old Korea’s Yi Dynasty.

Televised nationwide, the ceremonies included mass marching displays by costumed schoolchildren, tiger dancers and students of the national martial art, Tae Kwon Do. A giant South Korean flag was carried into the air by balloons, symbolizing hope for the future.

“Four years in advance, you have at your disposal some of the finest sports facilities in the world,” Juan Antonio Samaranch, International Olympic Committee chairman, told the crowd. His words were translated simultaneously and displayed on a 40-yard-long electronic signboard.

South Korean officials eagerly pointed out to foreign journalists that with the exception of the timing system, which was imported from Switzerland, all equipment and materials in the stadium were made in South Korea.

Twenty-five miles north of Seoul that day, North Korean trucks were delivering flood relief aid to the south, in an unprecedented display of cooperation and trust between the two rival governments. But the next day, Seoul’s newspapers led their front pages with the ceremonies.

Although the government here is stage-managing festivities, Olympic fever seems genuinely to have caught hold among the 40 million people of South Korea.

Before the Los Angeles Games, South Korea had won only 18 medals since first fielding a team, in 1948. But last summer, it brought home 19, including six golds. Winners were transformed overnight into national heroes, with scenes of their homecoming broadcast countless times on television.

About 100,000 South Koreans are expected to assist with the 1988 Games. Many will be volunteers, charged with guiding foreigners around this huge and bewildering city of 9 million.

“I am taking English lessons to prepare for the Olympics,” taxi driver Lee Sang Hoon said. “I also want to learn Japanese. We all have to work hard to make the Games a success.”

Officials also are anxious to suppress certain customs and practices that might be dismaying to foreigners. Dog meat restaurants, for example, are being moved out of town.

There is enormous construction still to be done. Somehow, Seoul must accommodate the 13,000 athletes and officials, 16,000 journalists and delegates and 350,000 foreign tourists who are expected.

The main stadium, two gymnasiums and an indoor swimming stadium already are complete. At another complex about two miles from the main stadium, a velodrome, three gymnasiums and another swimming facility will be built.

Construction on the Olympic Village will start in 1986. The village will accommodate 9,000 athletes and 4,000 officials. For the first time, the media will have a special Press Village. Everything will be coordinated from a 17-floor Olympic memorial building.

Also to be built or renovated are an equestrian course in a Seoul suburb and a regatta course on the Han River, which flows through the city center.