Lee calls for unsparing efforts for PyeongChang's Olympic bid

By Chang Jae-soon
DURBAN, South Africa, July 5 (Yonhap) -- On the eve of a crucial vote to select the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympics, President Lee Myung-bak said Tuesday that South Korea should put forth every possible effort until the last moment to bring the Games to the alpine city of PyeongChang.
"We have to do our best when there is an opportunity," Lee told aides in a meeting in this South African port city of Durban, according to presidential spokesman Park Jeong-ha. "Since we started (this bid), let's put all our souls and might" into it, he said.



PyeongChang is competing against Munich of Germany and Annecy of France in its third consecutive attempt to win the right to host the Winter Olympics after losing narrowly to Canada's Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics and then to Russia's Sochi for the 2014 Games.
The International Olympic Committee plans to pick the winning city by secret ballot on Wednesday.
Lee plans to deliver an English-language speech to showcase PyeongChang's merits as a potential Olympic host during the final presentation just hours before the IOC vote. Lee said earlier this week that he practiced the speech "until his throat hurt."
On Tuesday, Lee brushed off concern about his voice, saying, "Even if my voice cracks, we can move people" if we deliver the presentation with sincerity, according to his spokesman.
The widespread view is that it will be a two-way race between PyeongChang and Munich. Foreign news reports have said that PyeongChang is leading Munich in a close race, but South Korean officials declined to talk about their predictions.
The snow-prone town of PyeongChang, some 180 kilometers east of Seoul, has emphasized that its hosting of the Olympics will help promote winter sports in Asia. So far, Japan is the only Asian nation to have hosted the Winter Games, with Sapporo in 1972 and Nagano in 1998.
South Korea is a winter sports powerhouse in Asia and home to world figure skating star Kim Yu-na. The country finished fifth in the gold medal tally at last year's Vancouver Olympics with six golds and came in third with 13 golds in this year's Asian Games after Kazakhstan and Japan.
PyeongChang has also stressed its compactness as one of its strengths, as athletes will require a maximum of just half an hour to travel between the town's various venues.
jschang@yna.co.kr