March 7 - South Korea's success at the Olympics in Vancouver last month, when they finished fifth overall in the medals and produced the star of the Games in figure skater Kim Yu-Na (pictured), was worth a staggering 20.2 trillion won (£12 billion) to the country's economy, a new study has claimed.

South Korea won 14 medals in Canada, including six gold, a performance that experts believe boosted Pyeongchang's bid to host the 2018 Olympics and Paralympics.

Now Lee Dong-hun, a research fellow in the Macroeconomic Research Department at the Samsung Economic Research Institute, has estimated the economic benefits of the team's performance.

Writing in the latest edition of the JoongAng Daily, he claims that the enormous figure represents two per cent of South Korea's gross domestic product.

The direct effect is broken down into approximately 1.2 trillion won (£1 billion) in national promotions, 840 billion won (£485 million) in the improvement of corporate brand recognition and 14.8 trillion won (£9 billion) in increased corporate revenues.

Meanwhile, the Winter Olympics is estimated to generate 3.3 trillion won (£2 billion) in indirect effects, including enhancing public morale.

Lee writes: "Korea’s success as the world’s fastest country in adopting industrialisation and democratisation was intertwined with the Olympic victories, together encouraging a strong sense of national pride.

"If other, hard-to-measure effects are included, such as the heightened sense of pride, greater social integration and a lowering of the 'Korea discount,' [the amount by which investors undervalue Korean stocks] the economic value of the Winter Olympics increases much further."

Lee claims that the success, particularly of Kim, have helped promote Korea's "brand" and increased its standing in the international community.

The Games will also help foster social integration and a greater sense of citizenship.

But, perhaps more importantly, Lee claims is that the team's performance - which saw them finish ahead of traditional rivals China and Japan, as well as Russia, in the overall medals table - will help convince Koreans that they can compete on the world stage, economically and not just in sport.

He writes: "Korea realised its DNA of success once again: a display of strong competitive temperament especially under extreme pressure.

"Koreans experienced a heightened sense of self-confidence that encourages the belief that, by putting together their capabilities, Koreans can achieve anything no matter how high the barriers that advanced countries represent and how few their resources."

Lee writes that this will help Pyeongchang's bid to host the Olympics.

They are bidding for a third consecutive time having narrowly missed out on winning the right to stage the 2010 Olympics to Vancouver and 2014 to Sochi.

But they face tough competition from Annecy and Munich.

Lee writes: "[The] Games highlight diplomacy in sports.

"Korea’s status in international sports organisations is expected to change with Korea’s rise in the ranks of winter Olympic sports.

"Korea’s efforts to host the 2018 Winter Olympics will gain further momentum."

Contact the writer of this story at duncan.mackay@insidethegames.biz

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