Growing up in Seoul, South Korea, Meeran Kim remembers the 1988 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, which brought two of the world’s biggest sporting events to the country for the first time. The experience led her to dedicate more than a decade of her life to bringing the Olympics back to her country. “Those Games brought the people of our country together as one and helped promote Korea to the world,” Meeran says. “I took my job at the PyeongChang Organizing Committee because I believed in the movement and I wanted to see it at home again.” 

When it hosted the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, South Korea became one of few countries in the world to have hosted both the summer and winter Olympics as well as the FIFA World Cup. While these large-scale events boosted South Korea’s global power in sports, they also opened a two-way street between the country and new perspectives, approaches, and people. The PyeongChang Organizing Committee tries to foster gender equality and stimulate women’s involvement in sports, but there are few women in sports leadership positions. Meeran is one of the voices speaking up for more female representation.