Exactly ten years have passed since Pyeongchang, a Korean county in Gangwon province, decided to contend to host the Winter Olympic Games. The first and second attempts to do so were defeated by Vancouver, Canada and Sochi, Russia respectively, and after two consecutive failures, Pyeongchang’s persistent efforts were finally rewarded when its bid for the 2018 Games was accepted on July 6, with the slogan of “A New Horizon.” Its persistence and thorough preparation won the hearts of IOC members, topped with impressive presentations from Korean figure skater Yu-Na Kim and spokeswoman Seung Yeon Na.

A mood of joy and accomplishment swept across the whole country, especially since the wait was so long, and already statistics regarding the economic benefits the Olympics will bring to the country are showing up. A gross income of a whopping 65 trillion Won is expected according to an economics research center, and the media is busy covering the news of the fiscal benefits the Winter Olympics will bring. However, a reasonable person with discretion would notice that hosting the Winter Olympics is not as lucrative as it really sounds. Just looking back on the past Olympic Games shows the hardships that follow the Olympic deficit. Not many countries were able to yield profits from the Olympics and were lucky to even break even. Some examples of Olympic deficits include an $11 million loss from the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics, $155 million from the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and a $5 million loss from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. One of the few instances of success was the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, and its secret behind yielding profit was to reuse facilities that it already had rather than building new, fancy stadiums or athletes’ villages. No fancy resorts or railroads were newly built.

Then what about Pyeongchang? Many construction projects are in the planning process, confirmed or already are being executed all over the country, from railways and roads to new stadiums. If the government were to build KTX railroads as well, a further nine trillion Won has to be added to the total Olympic preparations expenditure. Another problem is the maintenance of the Olympic facilities after the Games. For a city of only two hundred thousand residents, Gangneung has more than enough stadiums that it will need to take responsibility of after the Games. The plan for now is to convert the Winter Olympics stadiums into a convention center, a gymnasium and a swim center, but not only will these conversions cost hundreds of millions of Won, but the annual maintenance fee will also be burdening for such a small city. In the end, holes in the budget will have to come from the pockets of Korean taxpayers, and how many would eagerly greet an increase in taxes?

So the problem is not about the potential profits that Korean companies will be able to make from the Olympics, but to reduce the Olympic deficits as much as possible. The fancier and bigger the constructions are, the more Gangwon province is likely to suffer abysmal economic decay after the events. Of course the Winter Olympic Games will invigorate Koreans as the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics and the 2002 World Cup have done and will enhance Korea’s national brand and prestige as a whole, but when it comes to tangible profits and losses, “A New Horizon” that we are facing does not seem that promising. It may even lead the country to a downturn over the horizon.