The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) began a preparatory process in earnest to attract 2036 Summer Olympics to Seoul, as it announced outcomes of a survey on Seoulites being in favor of hosting the Summer Olympics again.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is to disclose SMG’s bid to attract 2036 Summer Olympics while attending the annual meeting of the World Union of Olympic Cities, to be held in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Oct. 24.
SMG is trying to seize the 26th General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), being held in Seoul until Oct. 21 as an opportunity to prepare for its 2036 bid.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon also met with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach on Oct. 19. Mayor Oh hosted a banquet for participants of the general meeting of the ANOC.
In 2021, Seoul submitted a proposal for co-hosting the 2032 Olympics with North Korea‘s Pyongyang to the International Olympic Committee in 2021, but it failed. Since the unsuccessful bid, SMG has considered ways of hosting the 2036 Olympics alone.
According to SMG, seven out of every 10 Seoulites expressed hope for attracting the 2036 Summer Olympics.
A survey of 1,000 people living in Seoul, conducted between Sept. 20 and Sept. 25 showed that 72.8 percent of respondents expressed they were in favor of attracting the Summer Olympics.
As for benefits of hosting the Olympics, 80.7 percent cited boosting the inbound tourism sector. And 80.5 percent spoke of improving sports facilities, and 80.5 percent touched on raising Seoul’s brand value.
On the other hand, as for worries related to the attracting of the Olympics, 43.8 percent cited economic damage caused by large financial losses.
And 23.7 percent touched on the utilization of sport facilities following the end of the Olympics, while 23 percent were concerned about traffic congestion.
Expenditures for hosting the Olympics ranged from 5.5 trillion won of the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics to 68 trillion won of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.
SMG insists that the budget for hosting the Summer Olympics could be reduced.
In particular, the metropolitan government has already come up with plans to build a sports/MICE convergence complex in Jamsil by 2029 and remodel the Jamsil Main Stadium by 2026.
SMG has reviewed ways of securing sport facilities of international standards to accommodate 28 Olympic sports.
Thirteen sports could be held in Seoul and nine others could be accommodated in Incheon. SMG concluded that only two sports venues should be built to accommodate six sports.
Apartment units for an athletes’ village could be built and then sold off in a public lottery, as happened for the 1988 Olympic Athletic Apartment.
SMG said it would accelerate its overall efforts to present Seoul as a potential candidate for international sports events in the future. SMG said the general assembly was the first step to publicize Seoul as an international sport city.
The 26th General Assembly of the ANOC is a meeting of representatives of 205 National Olympic Committees around the globe. Among the participants are IOC President Bach, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and ANOC acting President Robin Mitchell.
An executive committee meeting will be held on Oct.12, which will be followed by main meetings of the General Assembly between Oct. 13 and Oct. 14.
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