Incheon to host 2014 Asian Games
KUWAIT CITY ― The city of Incheon yesterday clinched the right last last night to host the 2014 Asian Games in a vote here that pitted Incheon against India’s New Delhi.It will be the third time Korea has won the event. Busan hosted the Asian games in 2002 and Seoul won in 1986.
Incheon’s joy may be justified. In July of last year the city asked the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy to conduct a study on the potential economic impact.
The study suggested that the games would create 270,000 new jobs and trigger up to 13 trillion won ($13.9 billion) worth of economic benefits for the regional economy. In particular, the city could find its purse fattened by 200 billion won, stemming from the sale of broadcast rights, ads and ticket sales, the study said.
The city is now expected to widen its roads and improve its subway and communication infrastructure with help from government funds.
City officials hope the games provide the city with a catalyst to surpass Busan as Korea’s second-largest city.
Some experts suggest, however, that the good news for Incheon may not bode well for Pyongychang, which is vying to host a bigger event, the 2014 Winter Olympics. In international diplomacy, it is customary not to award the same country international sporting events in the same year.
At last year’s Doha Asian Games, 12,000 athletes from 45 nations participated. The Incheon games are expected to draw as many as 15,000 athletes. For member countries of the Olympic Council of Asia who are relatively weak in sports competitions, the Asian Games are more attractive because the chances for winning medals are much higher than at the Olympics. Before Korea started to make its mark at the Olympics level, the Asian Games had a big following in the 1970s.
Since the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, Korean athletes began to establish themselves internationally, notably in archery and taekwondo.
By Sung Baik-you JoongAng Ilbo/ Brian Lee Staff Writer [africanu@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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