THE KOREA TIMES

APLN member Kim Won-soo wrote on the Paris Olympics’ commitment to inclusivity, solidarity, and sustainability. He highlighted that South Korea should reconsider its motivations for hosting mega sports events, focusing on shaping the new global agenda through sports rather than showcasing national successes.

We have already seen varying assessments that keep coming out about the socially avant-garde content regarding the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. The overall scorecard about the three S’s will take longer to come out. The first scorecard will come out on security. We need to keep our fingers crossed until the final curtain of both the Olympics and Paralympics has come down.

The scorecards on the other two S’s, solidarity and sustainability, will take much longer. Global agenda items for these two S’s are many and complex. They cannot be accomplished overnight. The path ahead will be bumpy with ups and downs. The Paris Olympics will be remembered as a turning point to highlight the urgency of recognizing solidarity and sustainability as the two keys for a better future for humanity.

The Paris Olympics showcases how sports can help shape the global agenda. Sports should not be mixed with but separated from politics. Depoliticized sports can facilitate an impartial agenda being set and a coalition being built.

Korea has been successful in hosting most of the mega sports events like the Olympics and the World Cup. Korea still seems thirsty to host more of them in the future. I believe now the time has come for Korea to rethink the rationale for such future bids. Korea must cease to host for the sake of showcasing its successes. Korea must think deeply about how Korea should and can contribute to shaping the new global agenda through sports. This is one important path Korea can take in its aspiration to become a global pivotal state.

The original article can be accessed here.

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