Part 2 - LA84 Foundation

15. Seoul Olympic Youth Camp
466
2
15.2
Operation of Youth Camp
15.2.1
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Securing of Facilities
Selection
Since the 18th Olympics in Tokyo,
existing buildings had been used for
the Olympic Youth Camp instead of
tents set outdoors. The SLOOC also
decided to use existing lodging facilities
in the outlying areas of Seoul, and
conducted a survey of the training
institutes of public organizations and
college dormitories in the capital area
beginning in April 1982. As a result,
the Unification Hall, Training Institute
of the Democratic Justice Party, only
7km or a 15 minute ride from the
Olympic Stadium, was nominated as
the candidate site.
With the consent of the Democratic
Justice Party, the SLOOC decided to
use the hall as the site for the Seoul
Olympic Youth Camp, and signed an
agreement on the use of its facilities in
April 1987.
The Training Institute of the Democratic
Justice Party, sitting on an estate of
63,522 square meters at Karak-dong,
Songpa-gu, comprises two main buildings
and two dormitories. As auxiliary
facilities, it has two sports grounds
complete with a soccer yard, a volleyball
court and a tennis court, a 1km
paved jogging trail in the precincts,
and a parking area for about 200 vehicles.
The dormitories consist of 77
rooms which can accommodate up to
1,380 persons. They also have office
rooms, an auditorium and a dining
hall, plus all other necessary facilities
for a camp site.
Repair of facilities
A renovation and repair plan for the
facilities designed to make them better
fit an international camp was finalized
in January 1988. The work was
launched in May and completed in
August the same year,
The renovation and repair involved
dormitories, dining halls, convenience
and sports facilities, the parking area,
the offices of the Operation Headquarters,
and the security guard office.
As for the housing quarters for participants,
the 60 rooms with the total
3,960 square meter space in the new
dormitory were allocated for up to 950
participating youths, or a maximum 16
persons per room. The 17 rooms with
the total 799m 2 space in the old dormitory
were reserved for 68 delegation
chief-level officials, each room to
accommodate four persons.
Each bedroom of the new dormitory
measured 64.7 square meters, capable
of accommodating up to 20 persons,
while those of the old dormitory were
46.8 square meters, capable of accommodating
10 persons at most. The dining
hall, measuring 1,221 squaremeters,
was exclusively for participants.
For convenience facilities, 10 rooms
including the main performance hall
were allocated.
The 815 square meter main auditorium
on the basement of the main office
building was used as a performance
hall with 1,200 seats, and the 492
square meter medium auditorium of
the old main office building was used
as a discotheque. A movie house was
set up at the small auditorium of the
old main office building, a rooftop
garden and a snack corner was built
on the rooftop of the dining hall, and a
bank, a post office and a telephone
office was set up on the first floor of
the old main office building.
The store in the old main office building
was used as a shopping center, and
the group discussion rooms on the
basement of the old main office building
was used as a conference room for
delegation chiefs. The lobby in the main
building was used as the accreditation
center, the office room of the old dormitory
as a clinic, and the second floor
of the old main office building and the
underground floor of the main building
was set upas the situation room of the
Operation Headquarters, the office of
the commissioner of the Operation
Headquarters and the offices of 23
officers, and the waiting room for security
guards. The large sports ground
was used as the site of the Camp
Opening Ceremony, Evening of
Friendship, and soccer and volleyball
matches. Tennis courts and a table
tennis room were also used exclusively
for participants.
15.2.2
Accreditation
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Invitation of participants
At the time the master plan for the
Seoul Olympic Youth Camp was prepared
in January 1985, the number of
participants was tentatively set at
1,300, including 1,000 foreigners and
300 Koreans. The figure was set in
view of the fact that the accommodation
capacity of the Training Institute of the
Democratic Justice Party was 1,380.
The plan was that the number of
would-be participants would be
assessed by sending out preliminary
information on the basis of which the
quota would be allocated among those
countries which showed interest in
participation. After several reviews the
SLOOC finally decided in January
1987, to fix the number of participants
at 1,000, comprising 800 foreigners
and 200 Koreans. In June the same
year, information booklets and
brochures were mailed to all of the 167
NOCs, and the selection of domestic
participants began.
By the deadline of March 31, 1988 for
preliminary entries, the total would-be
participants reached 1,133 from 49
countries. In a policy to encourage the
participation of as many countries as
possible, the Organizing Committee
set the ceiling of the number of participants
for each NOC at 60. The
SLOOC then formally mailed the invitation
packets and application forms to
a total of 53 NOCs including the 49
that responded favorably, requesting
that together with the application
forms, participation fees be paid not
later than July 31,1988. The deadline
was extended by one month until
August 31, but the applicants numbered
only 882 from 43 countries. Participation
fees of US$600 per participant
were, in principle, to be paid in their
entirety at the time of application, but
some countries paid the fees only
when they entered the camp. The fees
paid were not refundable in principle,
unless faults were found with the
Camp Operation Headquarters.
Selection of Korean participants
The original policy was that 80 percent
of the Korean participants would be
selected through consultation between
the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC)
and the member organizations of the
Council for Promotion of the Seoul
Olympic Youth Camp, and the remaining
20 percent by the SLOOC. At the
request of the KOC, however, the KOC
was given the right to select all Korean
participants in August 1987.
The SLOOC laid down a guideline for
the selection of Korean participants,
asking the KOC to complete the selection
by November 30, 1987. The guideline
was that the provisions of Chapter
4 of the Olympic Charter should be
respected, that overseas Korean residents
should be included, that participants
should be selected from
among those who are able to play the
role as goodwill emissaries and serve
as semi-operations personnel assisting
in foreign participants' activities, and
that they should have firm national
consciousness, good health and the
ability to communicate in foreign
languages.
In consultation with domestic youth
organizations, the KOC created the
Committee for Selection of Youth
Camp Participants. But, in the belief
that it would be more appropriate for
the Korean Youth Organizations Council
to select domestic participants, the
KOC requested the council to select
167 participants, exclusive of overseas
Korean youths and officials of the
Korean delegation.
As the selection right moved from the
KOC to the Selection Committee and
then to the Youth Organizations Council,
the selection of Korean participants
was delayed until June 30, 1988. The
list of the Korean participants was
submitted to the Camp Operation
Headquarters on July 25, 1988. The
list included 25 overseas Korean
youths, eight officials and 167 domestic
participants selected by the Youth
Organizations Council.