Interivew: Tensions with N.Korea, China hurt ticket sales for S.Korean Olympics - organizer

Kangwon Land

22/09/2017 10:04

By Hyunjoo Jin 
    SEOUL, Sept 22 (Reuters) - South Korea's political tensions 
with North Korea and China are depressing ticket sales for the 
2018 Winter Olympics in the South Korean city of Pyeongchang, 
leaving hundreds of thousands of tickets unsold, the organiser 
said on Friday. 
    France said on Thursday its Winter Olympics team will not 
travel to South Korea if security cannot be guaranteed, as 
tensions escalate over North Korea's nuclear programme following 
its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1M25PT 
    Hurting ticket sales in China, Beijing has banned group 
tours to South Korea following Seoul's decision to deploy a U.S. 
anti-missile system to counter North Korean threats. Beijing 
says the system's powerful radar is a threat to its security. 
    "The political issues are having an impact on ticket sales," 
said Eom Chan-wang, director general of marketing bureau at the 
Pyeongchang Organising Committee for the 2018 Olympic and 
Paralympic Winter Games.  
    "China, which represents the biggest market, barely bought 
tickets so far," he said in an interview with Reuters on Friday. 
    The Games are to be held in February, 2018, but as of Sept. 
18, only 312,000 tickets were sold, about 29.2 percent of its 
targeted sales of 1.07 million tickets.  
    Some 191,000 tickets were sold overseas, 59.7 percent of the 
target sales of 320,000 tickets. Organisers aim to sell 750,000 
tickets at home, but so far only 120,000 tickets were sold or 16 
percent of the target. 
    However, Games organisers expected sales to rise in China, 
once people are allowed to directly buy tickets online from Oct. 
16, instead of going through "authorised ticket resellers". 
    "There will be no problems with selling all of the tickets, 
but the biggest task is how many celebrities and VIPs will come 
from overseas to boom up the event, which will be affected by 
the geopolitical situation," said Eom.      
    He said the government was trying to encourage North Korean 
athletes to participate in the Games to ensure safety during the 
event.  
    "President (Moon Jae-in) is strongly committed to make the 
Olympics a peaceful Olympics," he said. 
    "South Koreans don't take the North Korean matter seriously, 
unlike those who live overseas. Foreigners are concerned South 
Korea is a dangerous place, but it is very peaceful here." 
    The U.N. Secretary General has warned against "sleepwalking" 
into a war on the Korean peninsula, after U.S. President Donald 
Trump said North Korea would be destroyed if it threatens the 
United States and its allies. The North in response said it may 
test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1M25PT 
    A Gallup Korea poll earlier this month found 58 percent of 
South Koreans said they don't think another war will break out 
on the Korean peninsula, the second-highest percentage since the 
survey first began in 1992.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1L04AK 
    Eom expected South Koreans to rush to buy tickets as the 
Games near, as they did at previous international events in 
South Korea.  
    A corruption scandal in South Korea involving former 
President Park Geun-hye and large businesses including Samsung 
has also dented the image of the Games, which were also 
implicated in the scandal, said Eom. 
    However, the organising committee aims to break even or make 
a profit on the Games, by raising more money from public 
corporations and the government, Eom said. 
    The committee has raised 940.5 billion won ($829.97 million) 
so far in domestic sponsorship from companies including Samsung 
Electronics  005930.KS  and Hyundai Motor  005380.KS , slightly 
exceeding its target of 940 billion won. 
    The committee aims to raise an additional 150 billion won 
from several public corporations including Korea Electric Power 
Corp  015760.KS  and casino operator Kwangwon land  035250.KS  
to reduce an expected shortfall of 300 billion won.  
    An additional government budget and lottery sales will also 
help the committee break even, he added. 
($1 = 1,133.1700 won) 
 
 (Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin, additional reporting by Jane Chung; 
Editing by Michael Perry) 
 ((hyunjoo.jin@thomsonreuters.com; 82-2-3704-5685; Reuters 
Messaging: hyunjoo.jin.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: OLYMPICS 2018/TICKETSALES