With one year to go before South Korea hosts the Winter Olympics, North Korea's Olympic committee "lashed out Monday against sanctions over its nuclear and long-range missile programs, claiming they are aimed at hurting the North's efforts to compete in international sports events." North Korea National Olympic Committee Deputy Secretary General Kang Ryong Gil said that sanctions that block the sale of such items as skis, snowmobiles, snow groomers, yachts and even billiard tables are a "vicious ulterior political scheme" to prevent the country from "having sports exchanges and achieving its goal of becoming a world sports power." Such items are "identified as luxury goods subject to the sanctions imposed by the United Nations because of North Korea's nuclear and missile tests" (AP, 2/13).
Japan Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa said Tuesday that the upcoming meeting of a working group to discuss the financial burden on municipalities for the 2020 Games "will set the tone for a final decision to be made by the end of the fiscal year to March." The meeting, for which a date has yet to be fixed, "will be the third of its kind for a working group comprising the Japanese and Tokyo metropolitan governments, the 2020 organizing committee and the municipalities that will host a part of the Olympics" (KYODO, 2/14).
Chinese telcom Huawei has started work on the fixed-line network infrastructure for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. The scale of infrastructure provision (e.g. real-time data transmission, broadband for audiences and stadium security protection) and sponsorship from Huawei has been estimated to reach roughly $17.4M, according to industry sources (ASIA SPONSORSHIP NEWS, 2/14).
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike on Tuesday urged the Int'l Rowing Federation (FISA) "to use the Naganuma course in Miyagi Prefecture as a camp site for the 2020 Olympics." FISA President Jean-Christophe Rolland said that "he expects several teams to base themselves at Naganuma in the buildup to the Tokyo Games, and would help promote the course in Tome, Miyagi Prefecture" (KYODO, 2/14).
