"The Beijing Winter Olympics is the third Olympic Games to be held in Northeast Asia within five years after the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. I think this is not only sports, but also a manifestation of the gradual increase in the influence of South Korea, China and Japan in the world. Kim Chen-kun, Minister Counsellor of the Korean Embassy in China and President of the Korean Academy of Culture, said in a recent interview with the Global Times reporter that he believes that the successful hosting of the Beijing Winter Olympics can bring expectations to people around the world and bring hope and confidence for mankind to work together to overcome the new crown virus.
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will open on the 4th of next month, and many preparations are ready, and athletes from all over the world have arrived in China. In March last year, at the invitation of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, Jin Chenkun, together with other diplomatic envoys in China, visited the facilities related to the Beijing Winter Olympics, including the ice venues in Beijing, the Olympic Village and ski resorts in Yanqing. Jin Chenkun commented that the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee pays great attention to the environment and ecology, and during the construction of the Olympic Village, the trees between the buildings and buildings have been well preserved. In addition, the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee also reused the old Shougang site and the facilities of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. "The preparatory work for the Beijing Winter Olympics is very practical, economical and environmentally friendly." Jin Chenkun said.
Photo by Kim Chen-kun, Minister Counsellor of the Korean Embassy in China and President of the Korean Academy of Culture, Lin Luwen
South Korea's President Park Byung-seok will visit China from February 3 to 6 to attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the South Korean government will also send a delegation led by Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hwang Hee to attend the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and Kim Taek-kun will also be a member of the South Korean delegation to watch the opening ceremony and the main competitions attended by South Korean athletes. He expressed his belief that China can show the world the most cutting-edge science and technology and excellent traditional culture through opening and closing ceremonies and competitions.
Kim Chenkun told the Global Times that South Korea will send a delegation of about 110 people to attend the Beijing Winter Olympics and participate in 6 of the 7 major events. The Goal of the Korean Delegation was to secure as many gold medals as possible and finish in the top 15 of the medal table. The Korea Sports Association is looking forward to winning medals in skating (speed skating, short track speed skating), skiing (snowboarding), bobsleigh, bobsleigh, steel frame bobsleigh and women's curling.
Jin Chenkun believes that in the traditional ice and snow competition, European countries have the advantage, while Northeast Asia is limited by the seasons due to the four distinct seasons. "But as we've come to focus on winter sports, Asian countries are becoming competitive in indoor sports, which are dominated by skating. In particular, South Korea and China have performed well in short track speed skating. Kim Chen-kun said that asian athletes will gradually gain an advantage in sports such as figure skating, which is both physical and technical, such as figure skating, which is participated in by South Korea's Kim Yeon-er.
On the evening of February 25, 2018, the "Beijing 8 Minutes" of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea officially announced to the world that the Winter Olympics had entered "Beijing time". As the two countries that have hosted the Winter Olympic Games successively, China and south Korea have also cooperated around the Winter Olympics. According to Kim Taek-kun, during President Moon Jae-in's state visit to China in December 2017, he signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese leaders on cooperation in the Rok-China Olympic Games. During the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee participated in the "Observer Program", a related learning project organized by the Korean Olympic Organizing Committee. After the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the relevant personnel of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee also participated in the ice-making training activities organized by the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games Commemorative Foundation in November 2019.
According to South Korean media reports, Moon said in December that South Korea was not considering a so-called "diplomatic boycott" of the Beijing Winter Olympics and stressed that South Korea-China relations are a "top priority" in the economic field. At the Ninth China-ROK High-level Strategic Dialogue on Foreign Affairs held at the end of last year, Choi Jong-kin, the first official of the ROK Foreign Ministry, also reiterated that the ROK actively supports China in hosting the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Jin Chenkun told the Global Times reporter in an interview that expressing "diplomatic boycott" of the Olympic Games is to politicize the Olympic Games, so our attitude should be as cautious as possible. It is important that sport be divorced from politicization and that peace and mutual understanding in the world be enhanced through the Olympic Games, a sporting event for mankind.
2022 is also the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea and the year of cultural exchanges between China and South Korea. On the 25th, the "Passion Together, Together to the Future - China-Korea Winter Olympics Photo Exchange Exhibition" was held at the same time as the Korea Cultural Institute and the Chinese Cultural Center in Seoul. "Although the COVID-19 epidemic has restricted offline personnel exchanges, we can expect more forms of online display and exchanges," Jin Chenkun said, especially on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, hoping that the exchange of various cultural content such as movies, TV series and games between the two countries can be more active.
The Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics "Beijing Eight Minutes" photographic work exhibited at the China-Korea Winter Olympics Photo Exchange Exhibition. Courtesy of the Korea Cultural Institute.
Jin Chenkun believes that the reason why the relations between the two countries can develop rapidly is because of economic complementarity, geographical proximity, cultural communication, and people-to-people affinity. South Korea and China have thousands of years of cultural exchange history, and while having many cultural commonalities, they also have their own inherent cultures.
"Han Chinese and different." Jin Chenkun believes that the two countries should enjoy a common culture like a family. Referring to some recent disputes between Chinese and Korean netizens over cultural issues, Jin Chenkun responded that culture is spread, not immutable, and that those who learn and inherit are the masters of culture, "So instead of arguing about a certain cultural issue, we should think that Chinese culture exists in South Korea, and Korean culture also exists in China, which is in line with the essence of cultural dissemination and sharing, and also helps to enhance the friendship between the two countries." Jin Chenkun said.