Pyeongchang Olympic Bid Has Austrian Ally

Burgi Triendl (58) is a journalist who has held the office of director of the editorial department of the Austrian local daily newspaper "Tiroler Tageszeitung," and has been the Asia correspondent for “Medianet,” an economics and travel newspaper, since February of this year.

Acting as PR ambassador of Gangwon-do since 2003, she was recently also appointed the PR ambassador of the 2014 Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Games Bid Committee and visited Korea on March 28. This is her fourth time in Korea, and she was invited by Committee Chairman Han Seung-soo.

Salzburg, Austria, is one of the three cities competing for the 2014 Winter Olympics bid, along with Pyeongchang and Sochi of Russia. How did Triendl come to “turn her back” on her own country to promote Pyeongchang?

“Austria has hosted the Winter Olympics twice already; this time, I hope Korea will host it. Koreans are warm, affectionate people. I like Gangwon-do because its mountains remind me of Austria.”

Triendl came to love Korea due to her friendship with Lee Soon-ae (52), a Korean residing in Austria, which began in 2003. Triendl will look around Pyeongchang on March 30 along with Lee, who accompanied her on this trip, and will act as an official attendant during the Austrian president’s visit to Korea on April 1–4.

Lee was a short distance running national representative when she was a student at a high school affiliated to Chungang University. After graduating from Ewha Womans University, she went abroad to study and married Rubert Pinc, an Austrian lawyer, in 1988. She worked as a tour guide, and is currently assisting Austrian companies to invest in Jeju-do.

Lee has published a novel, “The Fraziska Rhee Story,” in 2005 about the life of Franziska Donner Rhee (1900-1992), wife of former Korean President Syngman Rhee. She is planning on publishing German and English translations next year.

Lee said, “My husband encourages me to work hard so that his wife’s country will be able to host the Winter Olympics.”

beetlez@donga.com