The ongoing test events for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games "have been revealing the potential problems" of hosting the int'l event, with organizers "working to address them" before next year’s Games, according to Yoon Min-sik of the KOREA HERALD. From Nov. '16 to April, the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games is "slated to hold" 26 int'l events. These events, however, "also presented potential challenges for hosting thousands of tourists in a region where the two main host cities, PyeongChang and Gangneung, only have populations of some 44,000 and 217,000, respectively." Traffic and accommodations "are the primary issues." Other issues raised by local media include the "lack of dining options." The eateries near the Games venues "offer almost exclusively Korean food." As of early February, "no Western-style restaurants -- or non-Asian restaurants -- could be found near the stadiums in PyeongChang." POCOG spokesperson Sung Baik-you said that the new high-speed rail services connecting Seoul and PyeongChang -- slated to be operational by the end of the year -- "will make up for the lack of hotels" (KOREA HERALD, 2/14).
