Viewpoint / Letters : South Korea, It Seemed, Had the Right Approach

I found your recent article about the South Korean-Peter Ueberroth flap to be highly amusing.

By happenstance, my wife and I were in Baden Baden, West Germany, during the 1981 International Olympic Committee meeting. Having nothing better to do, we wandered through the exhibition hall where each city bidding for the 1988 Olympic Games, both winter and summer, had set up elaborate exhibits extolling its virtues.

The Korean exhibit was manned (womanned?) by some of Korea’s loveliest young girls, all clad in gorgeous, ancient Korean costumes. Each time a man wearing a badge showing he was a member of the IOC entered the room, he immediately was grabbed by one of these beauties, led to a corner and pawed all over. I laughingly told my wife that the ’88 Summer Games would be held in Seoul, although Nagoya, Japan, was the big favorite.

I have no idea whether any of the committee members used their free, first-class round-trip tickets to see their new Seoul-mates, but I would guess more than a few made the trip. My wife and I were not surprised to learn a few days later that the Games had been awarded to Seoul.

MILO E. SHADLE

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