September 30, 2002

NK supporters not fond of the food

Local citizens' interest have shown great curiousity about all topics involving the North Korean supporters who are visiting Busan to cheer
for their national team at the Asian Games.

While North Korea supporters were aboard busses from Dadea international ferry terminal to Heaundae Grand Hotel, they asked a South Korean guide if they could sing a patriotic North Korean song. Despite being told by the guide that it would not be proper. they sang a North Korean honoring
Kim iI-Sung. Later in the day, when they were returning from Changwon soccer stadium, they remained entirely silent on the bus, not singing or
saying anything.

North Korean athletes have chosen not to answer any questions from the South Korean media, but supporters have answered some questions in 'a
free and open atmosphere'.

At a welcome party at the Grand Hotel, South Korean hosts were curious as to why the guest were not eating much. At first, the hotel served
mostly Western style dishes. After noting that most North Koreans were not eating much, they offered Korean foods like bokeumbap and kimchi,
but still most dishes went untouched. When reporters asked why, one guest responded, " I just have a small stomach"

A reporter from overseas note that North and South Korea athletes were complaining a lot about not understanding why the Asian Games facilities
are serving so many western style foods which do not cater to Korean athletes' taste.

350 North Korean supporters were scheduled to attend the Sept. 29 opening ceremony held at the main Aisad Stadium and 25 supporters were
planning to support their basketball team in its contest against the United Arab Emirates at Guemjung Gymnasium.

Efforts made to boost AG ticket sales
Local governments forced to find special measures to boost ticket sales

With just a few days to go before the opening ceremony of the 14th Busan
Asian Games, adjacent co-hosting cities Yangsan, Changwon and Ulsan are trying to find some "special measures" to boost ticket sales and to draw spectators. Thusfar they have been troubled by lower than expected ticket sales.

According to BAGOC(Busan Asian Games Organizing Committee) and co-hosting municipal governments, as of 24 Sep 2002 only 11.2% of all tickets to sporting events (304,746 out of a total of 2,722,786 tickets) had been sold. As of Sept. 24, Yangsan city, which is hosting soccer, wrestling, karate, and squash, had sold 17,159 (11.6%) out of a total of 148,050 tickets. This falls far short of their original sales goal.

Local governments have set up so-called plans of "one citizen, one spectator” and “one student, one spectator" and sent coordination letters and game handouts (booklets & pamphlets) to local companies on behalf of the mayors. In the meantime, they have encouraged civil servants buy the tickets voluntarily. The governments are focusing on other ideas to help boost ticket sales. These ideas include offering discount tickets to foreign laborers who could watch their own countries’ games, and increasing the number of sales agencies from 9 to 89.

Changwon city, which is hosting soccer, handball, pentathlon, shooting, cycling, and swimming, has sold only 22,422(20.8%) tickets out of an expected total of 108,000. The city has requested assistance from local companies and relevant agencies, and plans to invite some 30,000 students in coordination with school principals, under the condition that the city government will pay 50% of the admission fee.

The Changwon government also plans to boost attendance rates to the cycling events being held there, by offering 7,000 tickets which will be distributed as free gifts through Daewoo Lotte retail outlets.

Ulsan, which is hosting table tennis, rugby, and soccer has sold 16% of soccer tickets, 10.8% of table tennis tickets, and only 0.19% of rugby tickets which averages to 8.9% of all 193.000 tickets. This will inevitably lead to many events with empty stands. To resolve this problem, the city is promoting the ‘one citizen, one spectator’ campaign.

Many companies have shown less enthusiasm than expected because they are suffering from recent economic difficulties. Recent floods have caused them to fall behind in the their manufacturing schedules and led them to spend much of their extra funds providing assistance to flood victims. This being the case, it is predicted that officials will not be able to mobilize enough spectators to fill all of the Asian Games venues.

NK supporters to ‘cross border’ everyday

355 North Korea supporters who are scheduled to arrive at Busan Dadea
international terminal on Sep 28 aboard the North Korean ship, The ManKyungHo,
will have the unusual experience of ‘officially’ going back and forth between North and South Korea. According to common law, a foreign ship is considered ‘moving territory’ of that nation even though it is moored along a pier belonging to another country’s. As such, since the North Korean supporters will be sleeping aboard the ManKyungHo and coming ashore regularly to cheer for their team, they will be officially be going back and forth between North and South Korea everyday, and as a result will need to pass through immigration control at Dadae International Ferry Terminal.

If North Korea supporters choose to have lunch aboard the ship, they will have to pass through immigration four or five times a day. The Immigration office will prohibit the South Korean public from boarding the ship.

Boarding a foreign ship anchored in harbor without permission is against the Stowaway control law. However, anyone boarding the ManKyungho without permission could be charged with violating the National Security Law (which prohibits South Korean citizens from making unauthorized visits to North Korea).

Since any small or unexpected incident could cause an enormous political problem
between North and South Korea, the North Korea Government will keep a strict watch on those area.

Three police boats and special corps will guard the coast and dozens of police will guard the area near the terminal 24 hours a day beginning Sept. 28, when the ManKyungHo is scheduled to arrive at Dadea Harbor

Asian week 2002 to begin Sept. 30

Asian Week 2002 will be held at Olympic Park, Haeundae Beach, and Busan Cultural Center from Sept. 30 ~ Oct 6. The festival will feature a variety of events, dining experiences and performances to go along with the major sporting events of the Asian Games. Asian Week has been held since 1996 in an effort to publicize this years Asian Games. Events will include and Asian food festival and an international mask and mask dance festival
During Asian week 2002 there will be performances of Korean cultural traditions, such as ‘Goot’ ( traditional exorcism ceremony), as well as performances by Asian folk art groups from Japan, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. These performances will take place at Olympic Park in Haeundae, Busan Cultural Center in Daeyeondong, and the Asian Games athletes village. There will also be a special Korean food display that will feature seven famous regional foods, such as Galbi from Suwon , Bibimbap from Jeolla, and Makguksu from Gangwon. There will also be special regional foods from North Korea. Hong WanSik , Busan Director of Culture and Tourism, said that since North Korea has expressed a desire to participate in the cultural performances, ways of including them in the festivities are currently being examined.

Korean companies support Asian Games

Several major Korean companies, including Samsung, LG, and SK, are improving their images by officially supporting the Busan Asian Games.

On September 26th, Hyundai Automobile held a “cross country car parade” to celebrate the Asian Games. The parade included 44 cars driven from Limjingak to Busan.

Hyundai will also provide 353 cars for use during the Asian Games.

Lee Gun Hee, the president of Samsung, and other Samsung officials are expected to participate in the opening ceremony. Samsung Electronics stated that they would provide audio, video, and wireless communication assistance for the Asian Games.

LG Electronics will open X-Canbus, a place where people can experiment with digital appliances. They will also provide free tours of LG factories to retail sales employees who sell LG products in other Asian countries.

SK Telecom is providing Asian Games volunteers with cheer packages, which include t-shirts and uniforms.

Power failure investigation

Police officers are investigating the power failure that occurred at the Gu-Duk stadium in Busan at noon on September 23rd. They suspect that stadium employees neglected their duties, including conducting routine safety checks.

The Busan police said that they would ask stadium employees whether they regularly conducted safety checks and if they recognized the deterioration of the electric cable that caused the power failure.

A police officer stated that the point of the investigation is to prevent similar accidents from occurring rather than punish the employees responsible for the power failure.

OCA members allocated best hotel rooms

VIPs of the Asian games are allocated hotel rooms according to rank in OCA (Olympic Council of Asia), not fame.

645 hotel rooms have been reserved for Asian Games VIPs, and 61 of these rooms are suites. Don’t even think about getting a suite unless you are a member of OCA.

The “Royal Suite” belongs to Al Saba, the president of OCA, and “Presidential Suite A” will house Jack Rogue, the chairman of IOC. Chung Soon Taek, the chairman of the Asian Games, is the only Korean that gets a presidential suite. He is staying in “Presidential Suite B”.

Deluxe rooms have been allocated to Chung Mong Joon, who is a presidential candidate and the vice president of FIFA; Kim Un Yong, who is an ex-chairman of the Asian Games and a member of IOC; and Jo Sang Nam, who is a member of the North Korea Olympic Committee.

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