Seoul Well Along in Preparing for the ’88 Olympics

This capital is stepping up the pace of preparations for the 1988 Olympics and most of the competition facilities are scheduled to be completed by early next year, more than two years in advance of the games.

The 100,000-capacity Olympic main stadium has already been opened in a huge sports complex alongside the Han River which flows through the center of the city and which is being cleaned up for the games.

Just 2.5 miles east of the complex, another sports complex is being constructed to accommodate a velodrome, three gymnasiums, tennis courts and swimming pool.

Also being built are an equestrian course in a Seoul surburb, a regatta course on the Han and a marina in the southeastern port city of Pusan.

“More than two years in advance of the Olympics, all major competition facilities will be complete. I think this is unprecedented for a city hosting the olympics,” Chyun Sang-jin, deputy secretary general of the Seoul Olympic Organizing Committe (SLOOC), told Reuters.

Chyun said most of the facilities would also be used for next year’s Asian Games which South Korea regards as a practice run of the Olympics.

“All preparations are going smoothly. We will be able to warmly receive athletes and officials from all member countries of the International Olympic Committee (IOC),” he said.

Chyun said he hoped the Seoul Games would be free from political controversy and be successful in realizing the basic Olympic ideals of world peace and the promotion of friendship.

There is concern in the Olympic movement that the Soviet Union, which led a 15-nation communist boycott of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, might also stay away from the Seoul Olympics because it is unhappy with the choice of the venue.

Seoul, a close ally of the United States, has no diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union or any other communist countries and is locked in a tense military confrontation with North Korea, an ally of Moscow.

But the South Korean government has repeatedly pledged free access for athletes from all countries, including North Korea, and the guarantee of their safety.

The threat of violence has haunted Olympic hosts since 11 Israeli athletes died in a terrorist attack on Munich’s Olympic Village in 1972.

Chyun said the organizing committee would put the highest priority on security aspects of the games, but try not to dampen the festive mood by enforcing unnecessary security restrictions.

He said he shared the optimism of IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch who said that if relations between Moscow and Washington do not deteriorate in 1988, all national Olympic committees will be present at the Seoul games.

“If the Soviet Union takes part in the Seoul Games, the whole world will be delighted because they will be able to see the two superpowers’ first competition in 12 years,” Chyun said.

The United States boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics to protest the 1979 Soviet intervention in Afghanistan.

A group of 12 Soviet skaters toured South Korea last month to give figure skating exhibitions. They were the first Russians to visit South Korea since a South Korean airliner was shot down by Soviet fighters in September 1983.

Ionov Valentin, head of the Soviet group, told a press conference before leaving Seoul that the visit would serve as a first step toward increasing sports ties between Seoul and Moscow.

Seoul is due to hold the World Judo Championships in September and organizers said Soviet athletes are expected to take part.

Chyun estimated total costs for the games would be about $3 billion with more than half going toward new sports facilities and security.

The total comprises $1.3 billion worth of investment for public works and other social infrastrucure that has already been included in South Korea’s 1982-1986 economic development plan.

Seoul plans to recoup its costs through television rights, admission tickets, royalties from the use of the games’ mascot and emblem, commemorative coins and lotteries.

Income from the television rights is the biggest single item in the Olympic budget and Seoul plans to sign a contract with a U.S. television network after finalizing the timetable of each sports event for the games.

Organizers would not say how much they expect from these rights. Negotiations are being delayed because of a feud over plans to stage some important Olympic finals in the mornings.

Competing networks ABC, NBC and CBS, want the finals of track and field, swimming and gymnastics to be staged in the mornings to coincide with peak viewing time on the U.S. East Coast, which is 13 hours behind South Korea.

International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) members argue against a Seoul request to hold some finals in the morning, to ensure maxium revenue from the American network, on the basis that morning finals could put some athletes at a psychological disadvantage.

But a SLOOC official said he was optimistic that the dispute will be settled in the near future.

“We are not talking about early morning finals but midday finals, let’s say 10 or 11 o’clock,” he said.

ABC paid $225 million for exclusive coverage of the Los Angeles Games and the price will rise to $309 million for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

Organizers expect some 300,000 foreigners to visit South Korea during the Seoul Olympics, set from September 17 to October 2.

In preparation for the inflow, the city’s airport will be expanded, 20,000 local inns will be improved, 15 more hotels will be built and city transport upgraded, officials said.