JadeVibe

It will be a opening ceremony as the Games officially get under way at the 61,000-seat main stadium today.

But don't expect to see Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, president of the Olympic Council of Asia, or IOC president Thomas Bach mimicking Korean pop star Psy's famous dance when he takes centre stage at the three-hour ceremony.

The song launched Psy into the pop stratosphere and his video became the first to get two billion views, putting the rich Seoul neighbourhood of Gangnam on the world map.

Let's hope Psy's performance at what is expected to be a colourful opening ceremony can bring back some joy to his country which is still struggling to come to terms with the ferry disaster which claimed the lives of more than 300 people just five months ago.

The ferry was travelling from Incheon to Jeju and was carrying 476 passengers, most of them secondary school pupils from Danwon High School in Ansan, where last night the Hong Kong men's soccer team played Afghanistan.

The fallout from the disaster was widespread. The captain and some crew members were arrested and charged with negligence of duty; the vice-principal of Danwon High School committed suicide; and Park Geun-hye, the country's first female president, saw her popularity rating fall from 71 per cent to around 40 per cent.

With the disaster still lingering in the minds of the people, the government will be hoping these Games will go some way towards alleviating the pain, and that they will be helped by the country's athletes. South Korea will field its largest delegation of 1,068 members, including 831 athletes competing in all 36 sports.

The hosts have finished runners-up in the medal standings behind China at the last four Games and aim to win more than 90 golds in their bid to outshine rivals Japan.

Leading the way will be pin-up Park Tae-hwan who was the first Asian to win an Olympic gold medal (2008 Beijing) in the men's 400 metres freestyle.

The 24-year-old Park, nicknamed Marine Boy, has won three gold medals at each of the last two Asian Games and is expected to repeat at a venue named after him.

Then there is Kim Hyeon-woo, 25, Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling champion who will be carrying the South Korean flag and leading his countrymen into the stadium tonight.

Kim, fondly known as Mowgli because he used to run around barefoot in high school, won gold at the London Olympics in the 66kg final (the third lightest category).

That image of him raising a South Korean flag with a badly swollen left eye endeared him to the Korean public. They will be desperately looking for more success stories like this over the next 16 days of competition.

That will be a balm to the hurting national psyche.

The South Korean delegation has 177 coaches and 10 of them are foreigners, training athletes in six sports - athletics, canoeing, equestrian, hockey, karate and cricket.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Gangnam-Style ceremony may ease nation's pain

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