KSPO Chairman Cho Hyun-jae give a commemorative speech at a ceremony to mark the 33rd anniversary of the 1988 Seoul Olympics at Olympic Park in Seoul on Sept. 17. (Photos: KSPO)

Korea Sports Promotion Foundation (KSPO) held a ceremony at Olympic Park Muse Live in Seoul on Sept. 17 to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Korean and foreign guests who remembered the Seoul Olympics did not partake in the anniversary event on site due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was held online via KSPO’s official YouTube and non-contact teleconference program Zoom.

Sports leaders, KSPO executives and staffers and athletes participated in the event, remembering the touching moments of the Seoul Olympics.

More foreign guests than ever delivered messages on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary of the Seoul Olympics. In particular, IOC President Thomas Bach’s message provided a message to set the tone for the event.

IOC President Thomas Bach gives a video message.

President Bach said, “The Seoul Olympics, performed as the best moments filled with impression and passion, was remembered as an unforgettable Olympiad.”

“The Seoul Olympics served as a catalyst to make a dynamic Korea known on the global stage, and Korea has continuously written down sports history based on its honorable legacy,” he said.

“I hope Korea, which will host the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games following 2019 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, will do its best to shed light on the spirit of the Seoul Olympics and imbue Olympic values with future generations.”

First culture minister Lee O-young’s message about a boy who rolled a hoop, wishing for global peace, at the opening ceremony of the Seoul Olympics 33 years ago, was resonated.

Ex-Minister Lee said, “This place of today is one designed to confirm the Olympic achievements we’ve made and inherit the Olympic spirit of pledging prosperity of the future and renewing itself, not one to celebrate the past.” Lee delivered his wishes for descendants to inherit value and the spirit of the Seoul Olympics, saying, “I hope to make the 33rd anniversary ceremony a collective memory of the Seoul Olympics.”

After commemorative speeches were delivered, Chair Ban Ki-moon of the IOC Ethics Commission, gave a keynote speech. Chair Ban said, “The Seoul Olympics was people’s expression of their willingness to become an advanced country with freedom and affluence.”

“This contributed to developing Korea into a world-class one, and visible and invisible heritage of the Seoul Olympics are immeasurable.” Ban said the legacy of the Seoul Olympics is an important inheritance in which descendants consider as a foundation of freedom and peace they today enjoy, not a just one page of history.”

He expressed the hope a vision of spreading the values of the Seoul Olympics, announced by KSPO on the occasion of the 33rd anniversary, will be an opportunity for younger generations to share the inheritance of the Olympics and KSPO will be reborn as a global sports institution through sustainable businesses.

The anniversary event was followed by a ceremony to declare the vision of spreading the values of the Seoul Olympics in celebration of the 33rd anniversary.

Explaining the background of designating the vision in his commemorative speech prior to the declaration, KSPO Chairman Cho Hyun-jae said, “It is an opening act in which KSPO serves as a pivotal institution of Korea’s sport financing, inherits the Olympic spirit to realize the Olympic movement and evolve it into a full-fledged Olympic legacy coupled with global values.”

He announced the vision of spreading Olympic values: “Beyond Olympic Legacy, Becoming Global Value.” 

 Senior researcher Cho Hyun-joo of Korea Institute of Sport Science (KISS) explained the direction of strategies to spread the legacy: advancing Korea’s athletic performance, spreading sports culture honoring diversity, and realizing a global peace through sports.

KSPO was established with 352.1 billion in a remnant fund after the hosting of the Seoul Olympics. KSPO, which raises 1.3 trillion won every year through fundraising projects, is responsible for the development of Korea’s sports, and supports people’s lives.

KSPO has been selected as an exemplary practice of using sport facilities after the Seoul Olympics by the IOC.

KSPO President Cho is determined to inherit and evolve the legally of the Seoul Olympics, and with the establishment of the vision, KSPO plans to implement sustainable legacy projects coupled with its projects to make it known to people and next generations.

KSPO plans to join forces in promoting love for humanity and peace through sports in accordance with IOC’s “Olympic Agenda 2020+5,” coupled with the UN SDGs, with the goal of enjoying a sustainable Olympic legacy.