It was hard to get excited about the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, but give the South Koreans credit for overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles to pull the games off exceptionally well.
The odds were stacked against them. Few people know where Pyeongchang is, and the Korean mountains lack the ambiance of Europe’s Alps and North America’s Rockies. The northern coastal range is known for its frigid Siberian winds and subzero temperatures. Both arrived in the first week of competition and disrupted skiing and snowboarding.
A month ago, the world’s attention was on the growing North Korean nuclear threat and whether its unpredictable dictator Kim Jong-un would disrupt the games. The saber-rattling on all sides was unnerving. Who would want to go to the Olympics a mere 50 miles south of the demilitarized zone dividing North and South Korea?
But the Seoul government was creative. It invited all Korean athletes to march in the opening ceremonies under a new unified flag — and even offered to put hockey players from the north on a combined team. It was a deal even Kim Jong-un could not refuse.
Pyeongchang, a city of 43,700, was the smallest community since Lillehammer, Norway (1994), to host the games. Its resources were stretched, but fans, athletes and others seemed to love the warmth and friendliness of its people.
Interestingly, while many nations are rethinking whether to bid on the Olympics, the Koreans welcomed the opportunity. They cost billions. For example, the Russians spent more than $50 billion to put on the 2014 Sochi games. Today, many of Sochi’s Olympic buildings are unoccupied and rotting. By preliminary estimates, Pyeongchang spent $12.9 billion.
The competition results were bittersweet for America. We were fourth in the medal count, behind Norway, Germany and Canada.
Our snowboarders did predictably well; our skaters struggled. Cross-country skiers Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins were the first Americans to win Nordic gold, and our male curlers, facing elimination, caught fire and beat Sweden in the finals — another first-time gold.
The frosting on the cake was the U.S. women’s hockey team knocking off Canada for gold. It brought back memories of the 1980 men’s team beating the Soviet Union in what became known as the “Miracle on Ice.”
NBC’s Tom Brokaw narrated a special report talking about the “Korean Miracle” starting with the Korean War (1950-53) in which 3 million people died. The nation was leveled much as Poland was destroyed by German and Russian forces in World War II.
Brokaw talked about the Koreans’ hard work, entrepreneurship, educated and skilled workers, and determination that made it the world’s top manufacturer of semi-conductors and high-tech devices. That technology was showcased in the very creative opening and closing ceremonies.
South Korea, which is about the size of Indiana, has 51 million people and is the world’s 11th-largest economy ($1.383 trillion).
In 2015, more than 56 percent of Washington’s $2.4 billion exports to South Korea were aircraft, engines and parts. The state shipped $44 million in fresh cherries to Korea — a 23 percent increase since the trade agreement between our two nations was adopted.
According to Brokaw, a key driver in the “Korean Miracle” is a strong education system in which students must work hard to pass comprehensive exams to advance and be accepted into college. “They get only one chance to pass the exams, and that’s it!”
While America struggles with student learning in its K-12 system, Korea’s highly educated and trained students are rapidly propelling their economy.
South Korea’s success goes far beyond the Olympics. Hopefully, the goodwill from the games fosters a new spirit of peace.
