Remote workers expectant of Tokyo Olympics

A 29-year-old office worker surnamed Kim began to work from home last week owing to the spread of COVID-19. As member of the Business Support Team of his company, he is swamped with a ton of emails, but he is much excited for the upcoming opening of Olympic games on Friday. Kim is looking forward to watching the games free from the scrutiny of his bosses. “I can always take care of my messenger chats and emails with my TV on for the Games,” he says.

Mr. Jeon, a 34-year-old salary worker and an avid fan of sports, is also looking forward to the Olympics. “I was thirsty for sports ever since the sports games were locked down,” Jeon explains. “Though I can’t openly say this owing to the bad relations with Japan, I tell my friends that I am a shy-Tokyo Olympics watcher.”

The zeal for the Olympics is rather lukewarm this year due to the aftermath of COVID-19 and souring relations between Seoul and Tokyo, but apparently a lot of Koreans are pinning high expectations on the upcoming games as golden opportunity to enjoy sports games with a national pride. In fact, a number of rival matches between Korea and Japan are scheduled in many disciplines, and it is expected to draw an explosive viewership from local sport fans.

From last year, a few sports content streaming channels have switched to paid service, fueling the expectations of sports fans on the Summer Olympics. In the past, fans were able to watch MLB or EPL games through portal sites, but companies with broadcasting rights have turned to paid service.


Seong-Mo Kim mo@donga.com