Songdo balances yin and yang of hosting international sports event

By Amber Song, Jiwon Kim, Haeji Kim and Yerim Mo, GSS Correspondents

SONGDO, South Korea — Say hello to Songdo.

One of Korea’s newest cities, the Songdo International Business District in Incheon, South Korea, was the setting for the Presidents Cup golf tournament, which ended on Oct. 11. All across the city, banners with symbolic golden chalices decorated every street corner, along with decorations and words of welcome, including a multi-story sign on the Oakwood Hotel that pronounced, “The Time Has Come.”

True, the Presidents Cup wasn’t any ordinary competition. A biannual competition held for the best professional golfers in the world, it was watched by an estimated 75,287 fans around the world. There were total of 24 players playing: 12 players on each team. The U.S. team retained the trophy after this 11th Presidents Cup beating the international team by a single point.

For Songdo — a promising but still evolving city that was created just a dozen years ago using reclaimed land near the Incheon airport — getting the cup was a coup.

Since its inception in 2003, Songdo has been growing rapidly. It won the bid against other global cities for the UN’s Green Climate Fund, which has established offices in the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ). Songdo also is gaining recognition through hosting international events such as the Asian Games in 2014.

Having worked hard to get the Cup to Songdo, businesses and organizers here hoped for an economic boost.

“We’re expecting about 100,000 people to visit Songdo during the competition,” said Ashley Galgano, marketing intern at St. Martin’s Press. “With a million people watching Songdo’s impressive skyscrapers and the clean, modern cityscape, there’s bound to be a change in people’s image of Songdo and Korea. I mean, I myself am absolutely loving this place. I never really knew how great Korea could be before.”

However, for visitors accustomed to Seoul, Songdo and its eagerness for foreign visitors can be a surprise.

“Different customers, like guests who usually don’t stay in Incheon, but in Seoul, come and stay. Many people are positively surprised and re-think their opinions of Songdo.” said Richard Suter, general manager of Songdo’s Sheraton Hotel.

“I think this is a great event,” he added. “Not only does it attract people to the competition, Songdo can offer so many things that can convince people to come back — or better yet, stay.”

To be sure, there were also negative consequences of the Presidents Cup.

Some local citizens and working officials living nearby the golf course said that they were indifferent to the tournament. Songdo police officer Hyemi Park reported illegally parked cars. She said that because people are too impatient, they are showing lack of respect to others by not taking responsibility to park their cars in the proper area. Park also said police also had to work hard to manage crowds at the Cup.

Bill Park and Sangmin Lee contributed reporting from Songdo, South Korea. 

This story was published with cijournalism.org, the student-led news website of Chadwick International School. For more information, contact CI Journalism editors-in-chief Diana Minjin Kim mkim2016@chadwickschool.org and Sarah Choi s2choi2017@chadwickschool.org.