Pyongchang 2014 (or Pyeongchang, if you're a lame-ass)

While people are understandably sad that Team Korea's one win and one draw were not good enough to get into the next round, there is still something to cheer for: Pyongchang [P'yŏngch'ang, Pyeongchang] in Kangwon-do Province has made the cut to the final three aspirants for the 2014 Winter Olympiad (the other two are Salzburg, Austria, and Sochi, Russia, a resort on the Black Sea). Story here and here.

I will update this later on the weekend when I have a chance, but I believe Korea's nominee is the favorite, due to its near win in 2003 for the 2010 Winter Olympics (Pyongchang nearly won a majority on the first ballot, but votes for Vancouver were consolidated in the next round, and Korea narrowly lost), based on a sense that the area would have good and accessible facilities, plus the fact that the so-called "continental rotation" that hurt Korea for 2010 favors it in 2014 (its two competitors are European would be hosting right after a Europen Olympics in London in 2012).


I do want to add that this is a perfect time for the government to return to Korea's previous official Romanization system, a rendition of the McCune-Reischauer Romanization system. Pyongchang simply looks better and approximates the sound of the location better than Pyeongchang (hint: Pyeong is not pronounced as two separate syllables).