Busan Asiad Opening Ceremony Showcases Power of Asia

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, September 30, 2002

Busan Asiad Opening Ceremony Showcases Power of Asia

South Korean President Kim Dae-jungdeclared the 14th Asian Games open Sunday evening. A total of 6,714 athletes, representing 44 countries and regions, from the world's newest nation East Timor to the world's most populous, China, will compete for 419 gold medals from 38 sports.

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Thundering applause, wild screams and roaring cheers resonated in the Busan Main Stadium throughout the opening ceremony of the 14th Asian Games Sunday evening, showcasing the power of Asia.

"Welcome to Korea. Welcome to Busan," shouted the spectators who exerted all their energy beating scoops, the small cheering devices that were prepared by the organizers in a small package placed on each seat.

The 54,000-seat giant stadium was fully packed. Under on-site instructions, the audience played card stunt which read "Eoseo Oiso" to welcome President Kim Dae-jung as well as foreign guests.

The seats of the stadium went dirty following a morning downpour, but staff workers of the organizing committee cleaned them all within a short time.

Security was beefed up at all entrances to the stadium. Thousands of policemen were deployed, as dignitaries including President Kim Dae-jung and the First Lady, and President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Sheikh Ahmad Al-Sabah all appeared at the ceremony.

Two police dogs were collared by the policemen's side. A dog called "Saster" could smell out explosives, but his eyes were tender to non-threats.

"The ceremony is spectacular. I love it," said a young local spectator, Ae Ri-eon, who is also a performer of the chorus.

The happiest man to hear this would be Yoo Kyung-hwan, general producer of the Asiad Opening Ceremony, seeing his efforts paying off. "I am satisfied with my work, and I hope the audience will enjoy it as well," Yoo said prior to the ceremony.

Power of Reunification

During the march-in stage, the delegations of DPR Korea and South Korea were the last to show up. They walked hand in hand into the stadium under the name of "Korea" behind the "Peninsula Flag", which symbolizes national reunification.

Wearing the same blue-and-white uniforms, the DPR Korean and South Korean athletes and officials held high their joining hands and constantly waved to the audience.

All the spectators stood up and gave them the hottest applause amid the athletes' parade. An old Korean man in the audience was almost moved to tears.

In line with the Korean parlance of "northern man and southern woman", DPR Korean men's soccer team goalkeeper Ri Chong-hui and South Korean women's handball player Hwangbo Sung-il spearheaded the joint delegation.

A supporting group coming by ship from DPR Korea were also on the platform to welcome their compatriots in bright and colorful hanboks, the traditional Korean costumes.

The flame-lighting ritual was conducted in a quite unexpected way. Flame holders Ha Hyong-chu from South Korea and Kae Sun-hee from DPR Korea relayed the torch from South Korean popular soccer player Hong Myoung-bo and four of his teammates.

The flame, called the "Reunification Flame," was collected fromMt. Halla in South Korea and Mt. Baekdu in DPR Korea, both highestpeaks in the two countries. It also joined the flames from other 42 participating countries and regions, and was relayed across theKorean Peninsula in the past three weeks.

The main torch was finally ignited by a sparkle of fireworks, a "top secret" the organizers had been keeping tightly in the last few days.

NO Yeoung-cheoul, a producer of the ceremony in charge of lighting, said that "the way by which the flame is litwill be very impressive."

At the final rehearsal on Friday, the general director Yoo also declined to reveal the details of the flame-ignition ritual, only hinting "there are 44 OCA (Olympic Council of Asia) members countries and regions participating."

Power of Nationalism

Employing the love story between King of Gaya Kim Su-ro and Princess Huh Hwang-ok as the main thread that strings all parts of the performance together, the opening ceremony showed the world remarkable features of Korea, just like a dish of Kimchi, clear-cut and appetizing.

In the NANTA performance which kicked off the ceremony, kitchen utensils like pots and pans, scoops and vegetable baskets were used to play finger-poping music, something one can hardly believe unless hearing it for real.

Conducted by a famous South Korean band, NANTA stirred up the passion of the audience. The crowds took out the scoops out of the package to give accompaniments.

NANTA emerged in south Korea and then spread to the rest of the world as a kind of post-modern music style. It contains no words, only features strong beats.

As the ceremony went on, the taekwondo show pushed the gala performance up to a climax, with the audience gasping in admiration.

Taekwondo is budded the national martial arts of South Korea. The 600 Seonbi are actually army soldiers. They practice their fists and kicks. For a while, they form four-people units, and then six in one group.

A guy picked up a plank which was already prepared, and then stood on the shoulder of two others, and another man ran upon others' bridged arms to kick the plank.

"Look! The boys are all black-belt Seonbi," a spectator exclaimed.

The Korean traits can be found even in dialectal aspect, for example, at the beginning of the ceremony, "Eoseo Oiso," the Korean word which means welcome was formed by people on the ground,and the order of the athletes' march-in was arranged according to the Korean alphabets instead of English. Therefore, the first entry was made by athletes from Nepal.

Power of Common Efforts

About 5,500 volunteers, including college and high school students, professional dancers and even kindergarten children were mobilized in the performance.

"The preparation work started in last May, since it was really a mammoth to undertake," general producer Yoo told.

Before the formal show, a group of high school students were waiting at the side seats of the stadium. They performed in the first episode of the performance, "the Sunrise."

The girls all carried Jijeon rods, which were decorated with paper tassels at one end, to represent Korean ancestors praying to heaven for fertility.

"I registered to be volunteer almost one year ago. Busan is my city, and I want to work for Busan," said Jang Hyun-Ju. "I am glad to have Asian Games here," she added.

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