Kim Yu-na most valuable to PyeongChang's winning Olympic bid: survey

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SEOUL, July 11 (Yonhap) -- South Koreans felt that reigning Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na made the biggest contribution to PyeongChang's winning Winter Games bid, a survey showed Monday.
According to Gallup Korea's poll of 506 people, 46.5 percent picked Kim as the person who played the most important role in helping PyeongChang win the right to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. The surveyed could select up to two people.
Kim was one of the presenters for PyeongChang, which beat out Munich of Germany and Annecy of France in an International Olympic Committee (IOC) vote last week in Durban, South Africa. Kim served as an honorary ambassador for the bid efforts and also appeared in a video clip during the presentation that introduced PyeongChang's venue plan.


Next on the most valuable list was Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung Electronics and one of two South Korean IOC members, at 19.5 percent. President Lee Myung-bak, who gave an English-language presentation on the day of the vote, was third at 18.6 percent.
PyeongChang, an alpine town about 180 kilometers east of Seoul, succeeded in its third straight attempt to bring South Korea its first ever Winter Games.


The survey showed Kim received more support from younger generations -- nearly 62 percent of those in their 20s picked the 20-year-old figure skater. In contrast, about a quarter of people over 60 said President Lee was the most important figure.
Among all respondents, 42.2 percent said an economic boom will be the biggest impact from the Winter Olympics, followed by boosting of the national image (28.8 percent) and promotion of winter sports (9.6 percent).



The surveyed had mixed feelings about North Korean participation in the Games. Just under 58 percent said they would like to see a unified South Korea-North Korea delegation.
The two Koreas remain technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. They have marched together in some major competitions, most recently at the 2004 Athens Olympics, but have never fielded a joint team at Olympics or Asian Games.
But more than 73 percent said they're opposed to co-hosting the Winter Olympics with North Korea. Earlier Monday, Rep. Sohn Hak-kyu, head of the main opposition Democratic Party here, said he will explore the possibility of holding the PyeongChang Games with the North, adding it could help foster peace on the divided peninsula.
jeeho@yna.co.kr