If Seung-Soo Han does his job properly, South Korea will have the status it has craved far above all things: the sixth spot around the table of “greatest advanced sporting nations on earth”.

It has hosted the Olympics, and jointly hosted the World Cup. All that it needs now is the third and final grand scheme to seal its status for ever and sit with the likes of France, Germany and Japan.

The only hurdle Mr Han faces, as chairman of PyeongChang’s bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, is to persuade the International Olympic Committee to vote to hold the games in an economically pinched city that most of the world has never heard of.

The area around PyeongChang highlights the uneven, Seoul-centric nature of South Korea’s growth as an economy. PyeongChang remains obscure despite its previous appearance in the Winter Olympics bidding. It lost by just three votes to Vancouver for the 2010 games and the authorities did not blink before rebidding for the next slot. This time, it is up against Sochi in Russia and Salzburg.

“The country is completely behind us because this will enhance the image of Korea,” Mr Han says. If the judges select PyeongChang, it will be because there is nothing half-hearted about Korea’s desire to host the games and the bid committee has an impressive explanation of how the Olympic village will be sold as luxury apartments, with a new rail link and increased tourism.

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