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Street cheering parties for Korea's World Cup team are expected to spread from Gwanghwamun to City Hall on June 10, the day of the match against the US, with SK Telecom agreeing to set up three more large screens in front of the Plaza and President hotels in the plaza in front of City Hall.
The street cheering festivities at first only took place at two places: Gwanghwamun and the COEX, however, after Korea played well against France in a warm-up game last May 26, 20,000 people including the Red Devils gathered in Gwanghwamun, for the match against Poland and the high spirits spread to many other places in Seoul. On the day of the match with Poland, more than 1,000,000 gathered in front of large screens in 78 places around the country, eight places in Seoul alone; Gwanghwamun, COEX, Daehakno, Jamsil Baseball Stadium, Jamsil Indoor Gymnasium, Olympic Park, Yeoido Park, and Sangam Stadium.
SK Telecom paid W500 million and W300 million to host the Daehakno and Jamsil Gymnasium events attended by 110,000. LG Electronics set up a 400-inch large TV inside the Peace Plaza in Olympic Park for an audience of 20,000.
However, there was also a down side. In Daehakno, the screen was low and could not be seen by all the people in the back so the 100,000 people who came to cheer dropped to 35,000. SK Telecom will move to City Hall on the June 10 for the match against the US to attempt to regain their reputation.
Official World Cup sponsor KT set up a two-sided 600-inch screen at the COEX but as safety problems arouse, only one side operated, causing the complaints of many. On the other hand, Daum Communications gathered 30,000 spectators at the baseball stadium in Jamsil and received favorable comments on a clean relay broadcast.
(Lee Kil-sung, atticus@chosun.com )
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