Kim Chun-bae, proprietor of the Dongsung-dong Piccadilly Pub, said that after investing some W300 million on an 80 inch screen last week, some 120 patrons flocked into the beer house to watch the Korea-France match. Yeo Eun-ju, head of public relations at the Paradise Hotel, Busan, said that after trial showings of Korea's matches with England and France at its restaurants, sales jumped by over 30%, adding that the hotel plans to show all World Cup matches.

Kyunghee University will screen the Korea-USA game on June 10 at the school's Hall of Peace on a large screen, and expects some 4,000 students and faculty to attend. A university officer said that since the game is scheduled at 3:30pm, some classes would be canceled. Hanyang University will show all matches Team Korea plays live, while Sogang University is setting up screens on its lawn and indoor gymnasium. Kwangwoon University's cheer leaders squad will lead its students when games are screened at the open-air theater.

The Mapo District Office will set up 4m x 6m screens in Mapo Culture and Sports Center and Hongik University neighborhood to encourage local residents to watch the games on the street. Jongno and Dongdaemun district offices will telecast the matches Korea plays at Marronnier Park and Dongdaemun Stadium respectively.

First-class hotels are also caught in the World Cup fever. Designated as World Cup VIP Hotel by FIFA, Hotel Shilla is patronized by some 700 celebrities, including FIFA president Joseph Sep Blatter. In order to accommodate guests from some 60 countries around the world, the hotel has adjusted room temperatures by the guests' origin; rooms for VIPs from the tropics are set at 24-25 degree Celsius, while other rooms are at 18 degree Celsius. In addition, all 507 guestrooms have cellular phones to make outgoing calls.

The Hyatt Hotel is a temporary World Cup Headquarters as FIFA agents have rented some 100 rooms to use as offices. Park Gyeong-seo of the hotels public relations department said that its Terrace Cafe is presenting an international buffet offering authentic dishes from 16 countries.

Hyatt Regency Jeju, hired two Chinese chefs and two service experts to provide the best service for the China team, who will be staying at the hotel through the World Cup period. A gym facility has been designated exclusively for the players, and all guest rooms are equipped with Chinese language-enabled PCs.

The Sheraton Walker Hill has a "Douglas Team," exclusively serving French players, and named after Douglas House, the annex that Team France is staying in. French athletes have been presented with jade necklaces engraved with a Chinese character for victory, and international star midfielder Zinedine Zidane has been assigned a private gym section in consideration of his recent injury.

The Hotel Ritz Carton has equipped its guestrooms with satellite television sets so that in-house Portugal players can watch programs from state-run station. Public relations chief Kim Sun-kyung said that the hotel is preparing a service for some 50 female fans, who are camping at the lobby to see Portuguese players, stressing the popularity of handsome Latin athletes.

The Westin Chosun Hotel has prepared 12 different kinds of dishes representing seven countries, including the USA and Sweden, and the Hilton Hotel's French restaurant 'Seasons' offers course menus named after soccer terminology.

(Lee In-yeol, yiyul@chosun.com )