Thursday, July 7, 2011

Olympics Coming to Korea in 2018

It was announced today by the International Olympic Committee that the 2018 edition of the Olympic winter games will be held in South Korea, in Pyeongchang (평창).  The news was well-received in Korea, with celebrations reported in Seoul and at Jogyesa (조계사), one of Korea's most important Buddhist temples.

평창 is located in Gangwon-do (강원도), the north-easternmost province of South Korea.  It seems to me that 강원도 is not as developed as the other Korean provinces.  A quick glance upon the map of South Korea makes evident that there is more highway infrastructure in the western and southern provinces of the country.  So I expect that the coming of the Olympics to 강원도 is likely to be accompanied by some infrastructural development for the province.

Geographically, 강원도 is an ideal location for the winter Olympic games to be held.  강원도 is a mountainous region.  The Taebaek mountain range (태백산맥) runs along its eastern side.  Within this mountain range is located Seoraksan mountain (설악산)설악산 is the 3rd highest mountain in South Korea, and a popular hiking destination for Korean nature lovers.  And it snows A LOT in 강원도!  Last year, a February storm dropped 110.1 centimeters of snow in 24 hours on Donghae city (동해시), a city located on the east coast of 강원도.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, this massive snow storm caused some damage to buildingsBut the national, provincial and local governments were equipped to deal with the snow, and quickly mobilized their resources to clear roads and rescue people who were stranded.

This morning, as they readied themselves to make their final bid for the 2018, officials from 평창 seemed to believe that their toughest competition would come from the German city of Munich.  But they won, and the Olympic torch is coming to Korea for the 2nd time!  Congratulations Korea!

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