International Olympic Committee Meeting with the South Korean Sports Minister and his Delegation regarding the Asian Games and Television Rights

(stamped confidential)

MEETING WITH THE SOUTH KOREAN SPORTS MINISTER AND HIS DELEGATION

Lausanne, 7th March 1986

Members of the delegation :

The Honourable She Jik PARK, Minister for Sports, Republic of Korea
Dr. Un Yong KIM, Vice-President, SLOOC
Mr. Jong-Ku AHN, Korean Mission, Geneva
Mr. Jong-Min KIM, Ministry of Sports, Republic of Korea
Mr. Jee Chull OH, Ministry of Sports, Republic of Korea

Asian Games

Minister Park stated that all preparations were going smoothly for the Asian Games and that the facilities for all venues would be finished by April. Sports co-ordinators had been nominated for each sport and there would be control centres at each venue.

During the month of June several competitions would be held and the procedures to be carried out could thus be rehearsed.

The construction of accommodation for athletes, press and tourists was continuing according to schedule.

IOC meetings in Seoul

The IOC President asked if there were any problems regarding the meetings in Seoul in April or September. He stressed that the meeting with the IFs in September would be a very important one.

Minister Park stated that the NOC of USSR had declared its participation in the ANOC meetings in April, but it was not yet clear whether it would be Mr. Gramov or another representative of the NOC.

The IOC president felt that the NOC of the USSR would be present in Seoul and commented that if the relations North/South Korea did not change between now and April, Mr. Gramov would most likely be present.

Minister Park asked whether it would be correct for the President of the Republic of Korea to make a speech at the opening of the ANOC Assembly.

The IOC President felt that this was in order, but that the speech should be very short. Mention could be made that the Republic of Korea wished to welcome all countries to participate in the Olympic Games in 1988. The IOC President confirmed that it was in order for either the Head of State or the Prime Minister to open the meeting.

Television rights

The IOC President stated that the main problem was the USA. There had been difficulties from the very beginning due to the fact that the SLOOC had engaged a consultant, Barry Frank, who had given them misguided advice regarding the amount which could be expected from the television rights.

The IOC President pointed out that he himself had never expected the US rights to be more than 400 million US dollars, which was far removed from the 700 million as quoted by Barry Frank. In addition, he commented that if the Games were held in Europe in 1992, the amount received for television rights would be less than for Seoul, as the time difference with the USA would be even more disadvantageous.

The meeting held in September with the US networks had been successful and the IOC President stated that he had advised Minister Lee to accept NBC’s offer of 325 Million dollars. He had even telephoned Mr. Roh, who had promised to call back in half-an-hour and had only returned the call 2 or 3 hours later, resulting in the meeting being postponed.

The IOC agreed that the SLOOC could conduct the negotiations with Japan, New Zealand, Australia etc. but the IOC would be responsible for the negotiations with East and Western Europe.

The President felt that if the IOC would succeed in obtaining 50% more from EBU than they had given for the Games in Los Angeles, the result would be good. He was not very optimistic, but would try. However, he stressed that the negotiations with the US and Japan should be concluded before the EBU contract could be settled.

Dr. Kim confirmed that no negotiations had yet taken place with Japan but this would be done prior to September.

The IOC President felt that for Japan also it should be aimed to achieve approximately 50% more than they had given for the rights in Los Angeles. He did not expect any more than 30 million dollars. He commented that Barry Frank had previously advised the SLOOC to expect about 100 million dollars.

It was proposed that further discussions be held on this matter during the meeting in April

The IOC President stated that he would advise Mr. Pound of the arrival of Dr. Kim in New York on Monday.


Finally, the IOC President asked if it would be possible to arrange a private audience with the President of the Republic during the meeting in April.