Bond's the name, soccer's the game at Swiss Embassy

Some nicknames are hard to kick.

Whispers of "There's 007!" could be heard at the Swiss Embassy last week as Roger Moore and his wife, Christina Tholstrup, arrived for a luncheon.

Moore starred as the British spy James Bond in six films. Moore came to Korea as a public relations ambassador for the 2002 World Cup. The 74-year-old actor is also a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF.

But the main reason for the luncheon was to honor Adolf Ogi, the former Swiss president and a special adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on sport.

Ogi came to Korea on May 27 for the opening ceremonies of the World Cup and left Saturday.

Korean officials, members of the IOC, presidents of national sports associations, members of parliament and heads of FIFA met at the embassy.

After sipping summertime apertifs, guests made their way out the back patio. As they settled underneath a white tent, the Swiss ambassador, Christian Muhlethaler, welcomed his guests with a speech.

When that concluded, Maryan Baqueret, executive and administrative director of the World Health Organization, handed awards to Jiri Dvorak, a surgeon and professor in Zurich, and to Michel Zen-Ruffinen, former general secretary of FIFA, for making the 2002 World Cup a smoke-free event.

As the gathering wound down, Mr. Ogi gave an impromptu speech thanking the ambassador for his hospitality.

by Joe Yong-hee