A cosmopolitan festival, the 23rd Winter Olympics Games, was held in Pyeongchang from February 9 to 25. A total of 92 countries participated in the Olympics, with a total of about 6,500 participants, including 2,920 athletes. In addition, there were more than 100 gold medals. During the process of preparing for a successful PyeongChang Winter Olympics, more than 20,000 people participated in the Olympics. At that time, various problems and people’s complaints arose. This article covers people who participated in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.




Problems of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics

  As the Winter Games were held in Gangneung and Pyeongchang, the infrastructures were maintained accordingly. The most notable of these was the KTX Gyeonggang Line. The Gyeonggang Line was launched in December 2017 as a major transportation means to replace the existing Yeongdong Expressway and Youngdong Line Railway. The Jinbu Station, which is one of the routes on the Gyunggang Line, is the closest station to the Pyeongchang Mountain Cluster(Olympic Stadium), which held most of the snow events. Although the Jinbu station was an important place for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, there were no facilities for tourists except for one convenience store. The cold weather continued during the Olympic Games, and many of the tourists experienced inconveniences because a number of conveniences in the station were not fully equipped.

  On Jan 30th, a soldier who came to support transportation duties for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics sadly died in an accident in the shower room in the Hoenggye Depot. After finishing his daily routine, soldier G fell on his way into the shower room and crashed into a glass door. The soldier was slashed by the broken glass door. As a result, he died of excessive bleeding. A lot of people expressed sadness over the fatality that occurred while carrying out state duties.

Stories of People Who Participated in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics

Soldier K, who was housed with soldier G:

  A variety of soldiers, including the Army, Air Force, and Marines, were dispatched to support the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. However, their facilities and welfare were not well-secured. This accident was caused by the lack of proper placement of fixtures in the accommodations. The bathroom floor was wooden and thus difficult to clean as it can absorb dirty water or urine. Also, using a slippery material at the entrance to the shower room resulted in the death of the soldier. In response, the government promoted the deceased soldier to a higher rank. Then, the government removed the glass doors and installed anti-slip mats. I think the government needs to be fully prepared to ensure that something like this does not happen again.

Kim Woong-gyu, who worked for the PyeongChang Olympics:

  I wore shoes that were too large because there was no stock of winter clothes that fit my size. I had to go to out of town because there was not a convenience store around my accommodation or workplace, but the shuttle buses were inconvenient because the bus intervals from the accommodation to out of town took more than one hour. Due to the high traffic regulations, it was also difficult to use a car. In addition, no one was cleaning up properly at the accommodation. There was a lot of noise when I was trying to sleep. Therefore, I often woke up. When I asked for towels, I could not get enough towels due to a lack of stock. It was a big problem that we were working for the Olympics but our basic welfare was not satisfactory. I think it is important that departments in charge of these matters expedite the appropriate actions.

Jeon Won-jun, who watched the PyeongChang Olympic Games:

  I went to the Gangneung Olympic Park to watch a speed skating match with my friend. I wanted to eat at the Gangneung Olympic Park, but the prices at the snack bar and restaurant were about twice the normal prices, so I had to eat at a distance from the stadium. As the weather was cold in Gangneung, I bought a hand warmer and gloves, but in the case of the hand warmer, it did not get warm, so many people, including me, complained. After watching the game, I tried to take a bus to go to the Gangneung Station again, but there were not enough buses for the crowd of people, so I finally walked to the Gangneung station. After that, I tried to take a bus to the Jinbu Station, but it was full, so I left with 20 people. When I contacted the traffic department, they said that it was impossible to send another bus, so 20 people waited in the cold night. Everything that happened in Pyeongchang will affect the image of South Korea. Therefore, I think that the attitude toward the audiences should be developed a little more, and more care for each activity in the Olympics should be given.

  There were many differences between the stories here and the facts presented by the press. On February 7th, in order to solve these problems, Ko Seung-woo, the chairman of United Democratic Press Citizen, emphasized the importance of the role of the press in global events and also emphasized their objective reporting. The IOC(International Olympic Committee) prepared for a successful 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics for 10 years. However, there were still a lot of deficiencies. Therefore, the IOC needs to address the problems that have occurred. The PyeongChang Winter Paralympics will continue after the PyeongChang Olympics. It is a great chance to raise the status of South Korea. Therefore, the IOC and other officials are expected to take the lead in solving the problems until the PyeongChang Winter Paralympics are finished.

By Jung Jun-hoe l jjh38@cbnu.ac.kr
By Kim Min-jeong l mj38@cbnu.ac.kr