[INTERVIEW] Sports Promotion Foundation chief proposes diverse sports exchanges with N. Korea

Korea Sports Promotion Foundation's Chairman Cho Jae-kee speaks during the interview with The Korea Times in eastern Seoul, Dec. 24. /Korea Times Photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Kim Se-jeong, Kim Eil-chul

Cho Jae-kee, chairman of the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation (KSPO), said the Tour de Korea, an annual bicycle race organized by his organization, can connect North and South Korea, and expressed hope that the North would join this year's event.

"For example, we can have a route from Seoul to Mount Geumgang or to Gaeseong which would be quite wonderful," Cho said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.

The chairman stressed sport would be a reliable window to connect the Koreas and vowed his organization's support for inter-Korean sporting events.

"Doing something serious between North and South Korea is not easy," he said. "But through sports, you can create a sense of community."

Tour de Korea has completed its 13th event last year. Participants, mostly professional cyclists from around the world, cycle around Korea for the event every year. Last year's route was from Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, to Seoul via Samcheok and Goseong in Gangwon Province, a distance of almost 600 kilometers.

An Olympic bronze medalist in judo, Cho has witnessed sports diplomacy facilitating inter-Korean relations in the past. The prime example was the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics in which North Korean athletes as well as cheerleaders participated. This was a precursor to inter-Korean summits and U.S.-North Korea summits. The foundation helped with the Olympic preparations, spending 132 billion won to build venues for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.

"Peace and harmony are the Olympics' fundamental values and we saw these values played out at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Games."

After the PyeongChang Games, the IOC asked Gangwon Province to host the 2024 Youth Winter Olympics, which will be decided on Jan. 10 during an IOC meeting.

"And I am hoping we can also host the 2032 joint North and South Korean Olympics," Cho said.

Since winning a bronze medal at the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympic Games, Cho, now 70, has accumulated much experience in sports administration. He was part of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games Organizing Committee, Coordinating Committee of the Olympic Council of Asia, the Korean Olympic Committee and the Korean Society for Sports Management. Two years ago, he was sworn in to lead the KSPO. He taught at Dong-A University in Busan until 2015.

The foundation, established in 1989, celebrated the 30th anniversary last year./ Courtesy of Korea Sports Promotion Foundation

Founded in 1989 after the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the KSPO was tasked with maintaining and utilizing Olympic facilities and promoting sports for the general public. It has a pool of 35 billion won to implement tasks.

Cho boasted of his foundation's excellent work utilizing the 1988 Seoul Olympic facilities, adding that it amazed the IOC.

People swim in the Olympic Swimming Pool located at the Olympic Park in eastern Seoul. The IOC praised Seoul for successfully utilizing the Olympic facilities in the post-Olympic era./ Courtesy of Korea Sports Promotion Foundation

"When the IOC legacy manager was visiting Seoul (in January 2019), she was amazed by the Olympic Gymnastics Arena and fencing stadium being used as stages for K-pop performances. Also, she saw old women swimming in the pool that was used during the Olympics and diving boards that were lowered to 1.5 meters for non-athletes. The IOC posted Korea's experience on its website. We have successfully transformed elite sports to sports for everyone."

The IOC's Legacy Strategic Approach report, posted on its website, mentions the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games as an example.

The Olympic Gymnastics Arena in the Olympic Park is a popular stage for musical performances in Seoul. /Courtesy of Korea Sports Promotion Foundation

Olympic facilities cost big money but are often left underused, if not totally unused, after the games. The concern was raised before the 2018 Winter Games in Korea and similar stories were heard in other countries. To help countries solve the issue, the IOC took this up as an agenda and is trying to share successful examples with its member countries.

Cho said the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games' success in building a legacy lay in its power to draw in people. Regarding those who are currently working to build a legacy for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, he said:

"In order to make PyeongChang like Seoul, it must think about attracting people. Seoul became an example because it succeeded to draw people to these facilities. I hope the facilities in PyeongChang serve local residents and all Koreans as venues for leisure, tourism, culture and education. It's a big plus that PyeongChang has the fast train connecting it with big cities."

After the PyeongChang Olympics, the foundation, along with the IOC, donated surplus profits to the PyeongChang legacy building team.

The KSPO also supervises Korea Institute of Sport Science, which provides science-based training to athletes. Cho said the institute's contributions to Korea's global standing in sports are immense.

"We have helped swimmer Park Tae-hwan win a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with science- and technology-based training. Likewise we helped skeleton athlete Yoon Sung-bin win a gold medal at PyeongChang as well. The institute is currently helping swimmer Kim Seo-young who will compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. We're looking forward to seeing good results," Cho said.

The foundation has a velodrome and motorboat racing course where people can watch races and place bets. It also has 17 branches across the country, remote venues where sports gamblers can watch the races on a big screen. Sports Toto, a sports betting service company that covers football, baseball, basketball, volleyball and golf, is also a similar form of business that the foundation runs and the proceeds from the two operations are an importance source of revenue.

Yet, cycling and motorboat racing have seen their popularity decrease recently. Also, Sports Toto faces public criticism for encouraging gambling. The chairman said he is aware of these issues and is working to address them.

"For the races, we are looking at them with a long-term plan. Losing popularity doesn't discourage us so much. About gambling, we are working to come up with ways in which people do not fall into addiction and that people can consider it as a decent pastime."

The foundation celebrated its 30th anniversary last year. "As a reliable sponsor, the foundation has supported sports in Korea a lot and we will continue to do so. The annual visitors to the Olympic Park was six million last year. We aim at 10 million this year."