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As Seoul prepares for this Friday's opening ceremony for the World Cup soccer finals, Chung Mong Joon, is busy making sure that everything is perfect for that and the following games in South Korea and Japan.
The cochairman of the World Cup's Korean organizing committee has spent the past several years helping Korea build new stadiums, pave roads and open new hotels for the world's most popular sports event. A son of the late billionaire Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju Yung, he played a key role in Korea's bid to host the games. As a vice president of FIFA, the soccer world's governing body, the junior Chung is also keen on reforming the committee, which has long been dominated by Europe and South America. In the upcoming FIFA presidential election on May 29, Chung supports African candidate Issa Hayatou against incumbent president Joseph Blatter of Switzerland, who is accused by some FIFA members of misusing the body's funds. A prominent national lawmaker, Chung, 51, has in the past indicated he might run in Korea's presidential elections in December. Last week, he talked about the games, FIFA and Korean politics in an interview with NEWSWEEK's B.J. Lee. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: What does South Korea want to achieve by hosting the World Cup?
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Chung Mong Jun: The first goal is economic benefit. When South Korea hosted the 1988 Seoul Olympics, its per capita income was $2,800 and the benchmark stock index [at] 1,000. With per capita income reaching $10,000 now, the stock index should be five times that but it remains low at about 850. That is because the Korean people are not confident about their nation's future. By successfully hosting the World Cup, we will regain our confidence, and that will help the economy tremendously. Second, the games will make Korea known to the outside world. Foreigners don't know that Korea has its own culture just like China and Japan. The World Cup is a good opportunity to show our strength to the world.
Have there been any problems in preparing the games?
South Korea tried to host the World Cup together with North Korea as well as Japan for inter-Korean reconciliation. But it didn't work that way. We also hoped to improve our relations with Japan through the games. Recently, the Japanese perception of the Koreans has improved greatly, but the Korean perception of their neighbors has not.
There are safety concerns for the World Cup because of hooligans and the terrorist attacks in the United States last year. And South Korea is technically at war with North Korea. What are you doing to solve these problems?
We have prepared meticulously. Hooligans will have no room here. The U.K. already banned the travel of 1,000 hooligans. To prevent terrorism, our intelligence agency has closely worked with foreign governments. We had some accidents involving North Korea during the 1988 Seoul Olympics. But things are different now. Relations between the two Koreas [are] very amicable. The North is also hosting its own Arirang Festival at the moment. We were hoping to open a direct air flight between the two to connect the South's World Cup and the North's festival. It is still possible. Tensions on the Korean peninsula have subsided a lot.
There is criticism that compared with Japan, Korea spent too much money on stadiums and other infrastructure which will not be used much after the games. Are you worried about the financial burden?
That will not be the case. For example, the stadium in Jeju will greatly contribute to the island's tourism. In spring and fall, music concerts can be held there. In winter, soccer teams from Japan or China can come and play there. The same is true with Seoul's Sangam Stadium. It can have cultural and social events throughout the year. Because it is only 20 minutes drive from downtown Seoul, the stadium will be loved by Seoulites. The area used to be a garbage fill but that turned into a new town and park, an environmental wonder.
Your football association invited Guus Hiddink, who formerly coached the Dutch team, as Korea's national soccer coach. What was the reason, and was that worthwhile?
We decided to host the World Cup to upgrade Korea's soccer level. But it doesn't happen overnight. World-class coaches like Hiddink can help Korea in that regard. Our soccer players and leaders lack international experience. Although he began to teach Korean soccer players only recently, they were able to learn new soccer. He came to save Korean soccer.
There is a sense of crisis in FIFA because of the corruption scandal and other problems. What can Asian and African soccer do to change the body long dominated by Europe and Latin America?
FIFA President Blatter slashed the number of World Cup final tickets given to Asia. We have to increase that number for the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The African Football Confederation leader Hayatou promised to do that. He is also free from corruption. That is why I support him in the FIFA presidential election. Ten South American nations [are allotted more tickets] for the World Cup finals [than the] about 50 Asian nations ... This is nonsense. Not all South American countries can play soccer well and Asia also loves soccer very much.
As a presidential hopeful, what is your role in Korean politics after the games?
The motto of my life is freedom. I want to use it for Korean politics. Korean politics is often compared with dirty mudslinging. To be a politician, you have to be tough and mean. But ordinary and gentle people should be able to be politicians, too. Politics cannot be an occupation, and politicians should have separate jobs. My intent is to restore Korean politics to that level. Our economy and culture will flourish only when politics functions well.
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