Korean athletes need interview etiquette

¡°I am happy.¡± ¡°I thank my parents.¡± These are typical remarks Korean athletes used to utter first during interviews after victories in international competitions. Their stereotyped remarks at every Olympic Games make listeners disbelieve that they were hearing such statements. Furthermore, insincere answers by some athletes often make domestic and foreign reporters who wait for hours to hold interviews with them become despondent.

Before leaving for Sydney, Korean athletes received etiquette education at the Taenung Athletes Village in Seoul because some Korean medallists' impolite behavior on the podium during award ceremonies was reported by foreign press during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Fortunately, few such shameful scenes have been shown at Sydney.

Kang Cho-Hyun, who won the silver medal in women's 10-meter air rifle, wearing bright smiles, waved to spectators during the award ceremony to receive whole-hearted applause. Yet many people point out that Korean athletes have yet to learn many things when they meet the press. One of the archers who were banned from interviews with the press during the competitions was at a loss to know what to say, and another embarrassed a foreign reporter by answering incoherently during a press conference. Another athlete was frowned upon by reporters because he consistently made insincere replies.

The baseball players who beat Japan on Sept. 23 only repeated that they would do their best. A North Korean athlete was no exception. In particular, female weightlifter Li Sung-Hee did not go to the official press conference she was supposed to attend after games as other athletes did.

In contrast, most foreign players hold their interviews freely, speaking sincerely sometimes or joking from time to time. They do not hesitate to express what they feel and what they think frankly. Now is the time for Korean athletes also to show the demeanor of ladies and gentlemen armed with elegant manners, not of sports machines.