[Olympics] Minister Hwang Hee's Sports Diplomacy Efforts in Beijing

Meeting with Geou Jungwon, Director General of the National Sports Administration, and Witold Banka, WADA President
Requesting Cooperation for Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games and Hosting the World Sports Anti-Doping Conference

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 7th that Minister Hwang Hee attended the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics as a representative of the South Korean government, continuing his sports diplomacy efforts.

On the 5th, Minister Hwang met with Gou Zhongwen, Director of the General Administration of Sport of China (Chinese Minister of Sports). He expressed his impression that the preparations for the event were well done and hoped that this event would bring comfort and joy to people around the world suffering from the global infectious disease pandemic. Director Gou Zhongwen noted that Korean winter sports have greatly developed since the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and wished the Korean delegation success.

Minister Hwang also emphasized that the Olympics, which have continued from Pyeongchang to Tokyo and Beijing, should serve as an opportunity for peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official explained, "We reaffirmed the need for cooperation between the two countries so that the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics points to peace and provides winter sports opportunities to youth from underdeveloped winter sports countries," adding, "We also shared the understanding to mutually cooperate and support the promotion of inter-Korean sports exchanges, taking the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games as an opportunity." He added, "The two ministers plan to further strengthen cooperation in the sports sector through the Korea-China-Japan Sports Ministers Meeting scheduled for September."

On the following day, Minister Hwang met with Witold Ba?ka, President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and confirmed a shared consensus on fostering fair and clean sports. He emphasized that WADA's anti-doping activities should develop into fairness and realization of social values, and requested cooperation and support for South Korea's hosting of the 2025 WADA World Conference on Anti-Doping in Sport. Furthermore, they agreed on the necessity of WADA's newly promoted youth anti-doping education and discussed cooperation and support measures to strengthen public-private partnership frameworks.

Minister Hwang also met with the Korean athletes and event support staff. On the 5th, he visited the meal support center that provides Korean-style lunch boxes to the athletes, encouraging fourteen nutritionists and cooks and urging thorough quarantine measures. In the evening, he visited the Beijing Capital Indoor Stadium, where the short track mixed relay event was held, cheering enthusiastically and wishing success to the Korean delegation. A Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism official stated, "Due to strict quarantine policies and the lack of local cheering, we plan to continue visiting the stadium to support our athletes."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.