Prime minister calls for thorough prep for 2018 Winter Games

Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo on Friday called for thorough preparations for the 2018 Winter Olympics to be held in South Korea, saying those involved must resolve outstanding issues and focus on the task at hand.

Lee presided over a meeting on providing governmental support for the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, an alpine town some 180 kilometers east of Seoul in Gangwon Province. During the meeting, Bokwang Snow Park was selected as the venue for snowboard and freestyle skiing event.

Operators of Bokwang Snow Park and PyeongChang's organizing committee had been at odds over Bokwang's demands for fees.

According to the Prime Minister's Office, Lee ordered an emergency meeting between the two sides on Thursday and they reached a compromise overnight.

Snowboard and freestyle skiing were the last remaining events whose venue hadn't been determined. The organizing committee had earlier considered moving them to another venue in the province.

Also at the meeting, representatives from the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said they will seek to ensure competitiveness of the South Korean athletes in 2018. The goal for the host nation is to grab at least 20 medals to finish among the top five in the medal standings, they added.

To do so, the KOC and the ministry said they will construct facilities that will allow winter sports athletes to train year-round at home. They also said they will recruit experienced coaches from overseas and fund athletes' overseas training camps where necessary.

The Prime Minister's Office said the government will look to host meetings on coordinating efforts to prepare for the Olympics on a regular basis. (Yonhap)