Hwang Hee, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea: The Beijing Winter Olympics will set a new milestone

South Korea's Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hwang Hee. Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea

"I appreciate China's great efforts to successfully host the Winter Olympics, and I believe that the Winter Olympics will be successfully and smoothly held." Huang Xi, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of south Korea, said in an exclusive interview with People's Daily reporters recently that China has rich capabilities in the organization and operation of international sports events, and will certainly bring an unforgettable winter sports event to the world.

"China will unleash greater development potential"

Huang Xi has visited China twice, and he is amazed by the appearance of China's cities today. "I knew a lot about China's traditional culture before, and the impression of China in my mind was still stuck in the birthplace of ancient Oriental civilization. After arriving in China, I found that Beijing, Shanghai and other Chinese cities not only showed the modern metropolitan style of the international level, but also excellently preserved the historical style of the city, showing a harmonious blend of tradition and modernity. ”

Huang Xi said that since the reform and opening up, China's economy has made brilliant development achievements. At present, China not only maintains its advantages in traditional manufacturing, but also leads the world in cutting-edge technologies such as information and communications and aerospace. "China's economic development is full of momentum. With the continuous advancement of reform and opening up, China will release greater development potential. ”

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea, and the two governments announced last year that the "2021-2022 China-South Korea Cultural Exchange Year" was officially launched. Huang Xi said that the rok and China have a long history of friendly exchanges. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in the economic, cultural, scientific, technological, and tourism fields have been deepening. It is hoped that taking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the ROK and the "2021-2022 China-ROK Cultural Exchange Year" as an opportunity, the two countries will be able to further carry out cultural exchanges and cooperation in different forms and at different levels in the future, enhance mutual understanding between the two peoples, and further promote the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries to a new level.

"Setting a new milestone for the development of ice and snow sports in the world"

South Korea hosted the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018. At the closing ceremony of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the Olympic flag was passed to Beijing. Huang Xi expressed the hope that by successively hosting the Winter Olympics, South Korea and China can further strengthen mutual cooperation in hosting international sports events and further promote mutual exchanges in the field of winter sports.

During the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, 100% of all venues will use green electricity, the construction of venues will fully meet the green building standards, and the proportion of clean energy vehicles used in the event will be the highest in the previous Winter Olympics, which is a series of measures to practice the concept of low carbon, which impressed Huang Xi. Huang Xi himself is also an ice and snow sports enthusiast, and he hopes that he will have the opportunity to experience skiing and ice skating in China in the future, and feel the great changes that China's advanced winter sports venues and facilities and the Winter Olympics have brought to China.

Huang Xi believes that China has put forward the concept of "green, shared, open and clean" and puts "green" in the first place, which reflects the Chinese government's firm determination to host environmentally friendly Olympic Games. "Carbon neutrality is a common topic for mankind, and I hope that the Beijing Winter Olympics can play an important role in promoting the realization of green and low-carbon development in human society."

At present, the COVID-19 epidemic is still raging around the world. Huang Xi said that through unremitting efforts, China has effectively controlled the spread of the epidemic. In order to ensure the safety of epidemic prevention in the Winter Olympic Games, China has formulated strict epidemic prevention measures such as closed-loop management. China is fully prepared for epidemic prevention, and the Beijing Winter Olympics held during the epidemic will set a new milestone for the development of ice and snow sports in the world.

"Whether it is in terms of epidemic prevention or in terms of the ability to organize the event, I have full confidence in China. I hope that the Beijing Winter Olympics will be the most important starting point for people around the world to overcome the new crown virus and return to their daily lives. I also believe that based on the experience of hosting the Summer Olympic Games, the Beijing Winter Olympics will be successfully held. ”

According to Huang Xi, South Korean athletes are actively preparing for the competition and striving to appear at the Beijing Winter Olympics in the best condition. He hopes that in addition to the traditional Korean advantages such as short track speed skating and speed skating, Korean athletes can also achieve good results in skiing, luge, jump skating, curling and other sports.

"However, the significance of the Winter Olympics is more important than the results. The Beijing Winter Olympics will be a hopeful gift from China to the people of the world. Huang Xi expressed the hope that the Beijing Winter Olympics can bring healing and comfort to the people of the world who have been affected by the epidemic for a long time, and become a grand event that transmits warmth and emotion.

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