Jeonju 2036 Olympics: Feasibility & Support Confirmed | Jeonbuk-do

(Jeonju = News 1) Reporter Seunghoon Yoo = Jeonbuk Province announced that the economic feasibility of hosting the ‘2036 Jeonju Summer Olympics’ has been proven. The province predicted that full-scale hosting activities will gain momentum, saying that 8 out of 10 citizens are in favor of hosting the Olympics.

On the 26th, Jeonbuk Province held a final report on the preliminary feasibility study for hosting the 2036 Summer Olympics and announced, “The cost-benefit analysis (B/C) result was determined to be 1.03.”

This investigation is a legal procedure conducted over a period of about 10 months from April of last year to this month by the Korea Institute of Sports Science, a specialized organization designated by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in accordance with the ‘International Games Support Act’. Jeonbuk has passed the first official hurdle to host the Olympics.

According to Jeonbuk Province, the figure of 1.03 means that the Jeonju Olympics are a project with sufficient national investment value beyond a simple local government-level event. It is evaluated as a symbolic result that shows Jeonju’s potential to lead mega events on an international scale.

The total project cost was calculated at 6.9086 trillion won. The facility cost is KRW 1.7608 trillion (25.5%), and the operating cost is KRW 5.1478 trillion (74.5%). The province’s policy is to hold the competition by renovating existing sports facilities, installing temporary facilities, and utilizing facilities scheduled to be built, excluding the construction of a new stadium. It was designed to alleviate the overall financial burden by forming a structure with a high proportion of operating expenses.

There are a total of 51 stadiums. Jeonbuk-do adopted a strategically distributed hosting method with 32 venues within the province and 19 venues outside the province. The province explained that this is in line with the ‘Olympic Agenda 2020+5’, the IOC’s guideline for sustainable Olympics, and is attracting attention as an example of overcoming the infrastructure limitations of local cities while simultaneously securing financial efficiency and stability of game operations.

Jeonbuk-do also concentrated the opening and closing ceremonies and the swimming, archery, table tennis, badminton, taekwondo, and soccer finals in the Jeonju area, making it clear that Jeonju is the de facto center stage of the Olympics. Some sports, such as track and field, tennis, rowing, and canoeing, were distributed to other regions, including Seoul, in consideration of securing stadiums that meet international standards and infrastructure conditions.

Public opinion support was also found to be solid. In a public perception survey conducted by the Korea Institute of Sports Science for about four weeks from December 7 last year to the 6th of this month, 82.7% of the entire population and 87.6% of Jeonbuk Province residents supported hosting the Jeonju Olympics.

The main reasons for approval were △national and regional economic development (Jeonbuk 51.1%, nationwide 39.2%), △improvement of national image (Jeonbuk 29.0%, nationwide 20.2%), and △activation of domestic sports exchanges (Jeonbuk 13.5%, nationwide 14.5%).

Various effects that the Jeonju Olympics will bring were also presented. It was emphasized that it is possible to provide the public with the opportunity to directly enjoy games with world-class players and achieve balanced regional development while raising international status.

Meanwhile, the province plans to receive approval of the ‘Olympic Hosting Agreement’ from the Jeonbuk Provincial Council on February 6 and then apply for approval to host the Games to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, attaching the results of a preliminary feasibility study.

Governor Kim Kwan-young said, “The Jeonju Olympics will be a new national model for local cities to successfully host international competitions, and an example of presenting the direction of a sustainable Olympics to the international community. We will raise the status of the Republic of Korea with an Olympics that combines economics, the environment, and public consensus.”

9125i14@news1.kr