Korea Neighbor Emphatically Endorses PyeongChang Games

(ATR) The Japanese Olympic team is "looking forward" to attending the PyeongChang Olympics, a ringing endorsement for a region rocked with security concerns.

The Japanese Olympic Committee joins other National Olympic Committeesplaying down security concerns in the volatile Korean Peninsula. Such concerns were brought to the forefront of international headlines after Sports Minister Laura Flessel suggested that France could skip the Games if security wasn’t guaranteed.

NOCs, including the French Olympic and National Sports Committee, walked away from those concerns almost immediately. However, most of the statements came from NOCs in Europe and North America. Those countries are located thousands of miles away from the immediate danger of a potential conflict.

PyeongChang organizers tell Around the Rings that Japanand China are expected to supply the largest number of foreign tourists attending the Games. Japan has also been rocked by multiple North Korean missiles flying over its territory. Missile tests have led to little-used alarm systems being activated, prompting some fear and confusion.

"As a fellow Asian NOC, I strongly believe in the success of PyeongChang 2018, which is a kick off of consecutiveOlympic Games to be held in Asia, as it continues to Tokyo 2020 and to Beijing 2022," Tsunekazu Takeda, JOC President and IOC member, said in a statement. "I know that POCOG will ensure to provide a safe Games for the entire Olympic Family."

Organizers of the next three Olympics say that they hope each can be used as a catalyst to increase regional sport cooperation. When discussing PyeongChang 2018 legacy, sport administrators told ATR that they expect venues to be used by athletes training for Beijing 2022.

Endorsement from senior Japanese officials means a little more to PyeongChang due to a variety of factors. PyeongChang 2018 spokesperson Nancy Park told ATR at the IOC Session in Lima that Japan provided the most tourists to the 1988 Olympics in Seoul with a similar expectation for next year.

"Obviously the close proximity does a lot," Park said. "We try to do a lot [of advertising] in Japan and China, but it is a mixture of everything."

Written by Aaron Bauer

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