Chapter 255
Chapter 255
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Pyongyang Olympics
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If the Korean national leadership was preoccupied with the U.S. presidential election, ordinary Koreans had their eyes fixed on the upcoming Pyongyang Olympics.
“Pyongyang hosting Asia’s first modern Olympics.”
“It really hits home that Korea is the world’s second superpower.”
“I hope they pull it off spectacularly, in line with our national prestige. His Excellency will make sure of it.”
The Korean government was well aware of the public’s high expectations for the Olympics.
Lee Seong-jun had appointed Kim Seong-ju, a heavyweight from the old Yusin regime, as the Olympic committee chairman, putting him in charge of everything Olympics-related.
“The success of these Olympics is tied to His Excellency’s face and Korea’s. This is an event where not a single mistake will be tolerated, so pull yourselves together!”
Kim Seong-ju wasn’t the only bigwig dispatched for Olympics duty.
High-ranking officials from the cabinet, including the deputy prime minister and the interior minister, were out on-site, constantly checking the preparations.
With all these top brass coming and going—mayors of Pyongyang and whatnot—people couldn’t let their guard down for a second.
“What’s the deal with the stadium preparations?”
“Sorry, sir. The materials were substandard, so we ordered a rebuild.”
“What? Which idiots supplied shoddy materials to an Olympic venue?”
The Korean government tolerated no scandals related to the Olympics.
If a problem arose, the Board of Audit and Inspection—or the Korean Central Intelligence Agency—would swoop in, blasting the company with stacks of documents like anti-aircraft fire.
Thanks to the government cracking the whip and tightening discipline like this, preparations proceeded smoothly.
“But why’s a Westerner carrying the torch?”
“He’s Korean, isn’t he?”
The Korean government intended to use the Olympics as a rallying point for national unity.
“Skin color, background—none of that matters. A Korean is a Korean.”
The government’s catchphrase was straightforward.
Anyone holding Korean citizenship was Korean, no matter their appearance.
To demonstrate this policy, the Korean Olympic Committee loaded the national team with Westerners of Jewish and German descent, among others.
“Korea is one.”
Of course, Korea hadn’t prepared only on the political front.
“Out with the primitive method of recording broadcasts and shipping tapes. Just as the 19th and 20th centuries differ, so do the eras before and after 1964.”
The advent of communications satellites had changed everything.
This was now the age of live broadcasts.
At the opening ceremony on July 20, 1964, Korea showcased its national strength to the world.
“I declare the 18th modern Olympics open.”
After Lee Seong-jun’s opening address, Korea rolled out a dazzling array of spectacles.
It kicked off with the Pyongyang Orchestra, one of the world’s top ten.
This was followed by orderly performances of modern musicals and traditional Korean music.
Mascots from animations and comics popped up between acts, smoothly guiding the flow.
“Korea’s got some real cultural chops.”
“Not bad for the Prussia of the Far East.”
Westerners were newly impressed by Korea’s cultural level.
Korea hadn’t built only hard power all this time.
Its K-culture was no slouch either.
Pyongyang flaunted Korea’s soft power to the hilt at the opening ceremony.
“Not a bad start.”
That was Lee Seong-jun’s take.
There were minor hitches, like South Africa being barred over apartheid, but people found the opening ceremony impressive overall.
Above all, being able to watch the Olympics live made the biggest impact.
“This is a revolution.”
With public interest in the Olympics sky-high, Korea pulled some tricks to harvest medals.
“Taekwondo as an official event? Understood.”
“But there’s one condition.”
“What condition?”
“We’d like it subdivided by weight class.”
The IOC couldn’t help but question Korea’s sanity.
“Pardon me, are you quite serious?”
“Why not? Swimming’s split into all those categories, isn’t it? You saying we can’t?”
Were they upset Korea wanted a few medals?
The IOC couldn’t withstand Korea’s pressure.
And was Korea greedy only for taekwondo?
Hardly.
“You want more archery events too? What’s the reason?”
“Koreans love archery. We just want to see more great matches—what else?”
Archery was split into 12 events, including by distance, gender, and team.
“Feels like we’ve locked in 20 golds.”
In reality, Korea reaped the benefits handsomely from these expanded events.
“Kim Min-ju! With this, she claims her fourth taekwondo gold. What an incredible athlete.”
Korea swept up medals in taekwondo and archery.
Riding the momentum of clearing the medal fields, Korea briefly topped the standings.
“An Asian country in first? Come on.”
“Wait and see. Without taekwondo and archery, Korea’s got nothing.”
The West viewed the situation optimistically.
But Korea’s medal hunt showed no signs of slowing.
“Ever heard of elite sports?”
Korea had turned the Dongmyeongwangneung tomb into the athletes’ village, locking athletes in for two years of pure training.
With systematic coaching, diet management, and programming over those two years, the Korean team was a force.
Korea medaled not just in boxing, but in cycling and volleyball too.
Fueling on these gains, Pyongyang held onto first place.
The West couldn’t hide its dismay.
“Unbelievable.”
“Wait for modern pentathlon—Korea’ll get crushed there.”
But even in modern pentathlon, Korea didn’t roll over.
“Wait, why are those Germans competing for Korea?”
Korea had naturalized Germans.
These were East Prussian stock, no less.
A good number were versed in aristocratic sports.
Koreans cheered wildly as Westerners with Korean passports shone.
“Who cares about skin color? Bringing medals home to Korea is what counts!”
Through the Olympics, Koreans began slowly embracing their multi-ethnic national identity.
“Thank you. Thanks to all you citizens, I won gold.”
The crowd roared every time a German-Korean delivered an acceptance speech in halting Korean.
“Maybe we should naturalize some Westerners too.”
“Why would Westerners come to a backwater like us? Only a place like Korea makes it worthwhile.”
Seeing Korea snag golds in European-favored events via naturalized athletes, the world started seriously considering “naturalized mercenaries.”
‘Could use that in the World Cup too?’
Thanks to the naturalized stars, Korea stayed in the medal hunt’s front ranks until the end.
1st: USA, 2nd: Korea, 3rd: USSR.
It was like the Cold War’s big-three rivalry replayed in sports.
“Korea in second.”
Nations anew felt Korea’s surging power.
Korea’s rise was undeniable in soft power too, not just hard.
It hadn’t medaled in track’s crown jewel, the marathon, but no one could deny Korea had joined the sports superpower club.
With the mood like this, Korean national pride hit fever pitch.
“Have a drink on the house. Today Korea took second in the world—everything 22 won or less is free.”
When one side celebrates, another must grieve.
The Soviets, plummeting from top-two contention to third, fit the bill.
“The Union in third? How is this possible?”
“It’s because Korea bloated archery and taekwondo events. It’s temporary—don’t get too upset.”
“Temporary or not, our prestige is in the dirt!”
Soviet powerbroker Alexander Shelepin saw the results as a humiliation for the Union.
Of course, Shelepin didn’t care about the medals themselves.
He worried the East Bloc might sense Soviet decline.
The USSR had been on a downslide since Stalin.
Economy third, sports third.
If political clout slipped to Korea next?
Game over.
Once branded a “declining hegemon,” who’d bow to the Soviets?
Shelepin resolved to accelerate reforms, using the Olympics as a spur.
Korea had no clue its Olympics had nudged Soviet reform.
Even if it knew, it wouldn’t have cared a whit.
Korea was riding high on its Pyongyang Olympics triumph.
The event’s success was that monumental.
Nations that had dismissed Korea as a bloated economic animal now thought differently.
The world now saw Korea as a major power boasting huge weight in culture and sports too.
But had Korea focused solely on burnishing prestige via the Olympics?
No.
Throughout the Games, Korea relentlessly beamed ads for clothing, shoes, food, TVs, appliances, and more via broadcasts.
They pulled it off with “clever” cuts to athletes’ village life on TV.
Without making it obvious advertising.
Koreans would ask athletes if daily life was comfortable, always steering to the desired answer.
Nine times out of ten, it was this:
“I love Korean products. Want to use them again next time.”
This was the real message Korea wanted to hear through the Olympics.