'Taegeuk Warriors' Hidden Supporters'... 91 Companies Back Winter Olympics with 41.8 Billion Won

Support of 41.752 Billion KRW Provided to 91 Companies Across 15 Sectors

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] Behind the successful performance of the national team at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, there was strong support from corporations.

On the 16th, the Federation of Korean Industries (hereafter FKI) conducted a survey on corporate sponsorship for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and found that over the past four years, 91 companies provided a total of approximately 41.752 billion KRW in support (including cash and in-kind) across 15 winter Olympic sports. An FKI official stated, “In the case of the Korea Skating Union, only the disclosed three years (2018?2020) were summed up, so the actual corporate sponsorship amount is estimated to exceed 42 billion KRW.”

Companies sponsoring and supporting the Korea Skating Union include SK Telecom, KB Financial Group, Sambo Motors, V-EXX, and Shinhwa Group. The Korea Ski Association is supported by Lotte, Shinhan Financial Group, Descente Korea, Youngone Outdoor, Lotte Chilsung, Lotte World, Derbyco, Rudis, Ecobesl, CJ, and Daelim D&I. Additionally, the Korea Bobsleigh Skeleton Federation is supported by POSCO International, LG, KB Financial Group, Hyundai Motor Company, and Hyosung, while the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee receives support from Naver, Lotte Home Shopping, CJ CheilJedang, Oakley, Youngone Outdoor, BBQ, and Hanjin Travel.

The companies supporting this Beijing Winter Olympics actively utilized eco-friendly technologies in line with the recent ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management trends. The North Face (Youngone Outdoor) produced and supported the athletes’ uniforms using eco-friendly technology with recycled materials such as PET bottles. Approximately 200 PET bottles (based on 500ml size) were recycled to produce one official uniform.

The active use of metaverse technology is also notable. This is the second Olympics held since the outbreak of COVID-19, and with the recent spread of the Omicron variant leading to a ban on general spectators, companies are striving to increase public interest in the Olympics by utilizing virtual spaces.

Naver opened an online Korea House to replace the local offline Korea House and implemented a ski jump map themed on the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on its own metaverse platform, Zepeto World. Through this, the general public can try on national team uniforms in virtual space, participate in games, or cheer for the national athletes, indirectly experiencing the Olympics. The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee plans to issue non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of Team Korea athletes to create added value for digital content and use the proceeds as funding for sports promotion projects.

Kim Bong-man, head of the FKI International Headquarters, said, “We were genuinely worried that the sweat and efforts of our athletes might be overshadowed due to US-China conflicts and boycott movements. However, behind the good results of our athletes despite difficult circumstances lie their sincerity and the efforts of companies that have continuously supported them behind the scenes.”

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