Non-Accredited Media Center Open for Olympics

(ATR) Journalists covering the Olympics without an accreditation, or those interested in reporting on Gangwon province have a space to work in Gangneung.

Gangwon province opened the non-accredited media center on Feb. 5, and it will stay open until Feb. 26. The center will then close until March 7 when it reopens through March 19 for the Paralympic Games. The SeaMARQ hotel right on the East Sea coast hosts the center, and provides two free meals a day for accredited journalists. Access to the beach is only a few meters away.

The center is open 24 hours a day and is taking on-site registration from journalists. Spokespersons for the center told Around the Rings that over 1,000 journalists pre-registered for credentials for the center, and around another 650 have registered since it opened.

Translation services are provided in a number of languages, including English, for foreign journalists. ATR visited the center with a number of questions in hand, and found staff ready and willing to help.

There are plenty of work stations with both wireless and wired internet for reporters, as well as printing services and press conferences. A shuttle bus service runs every two hours that connects the center to many of the PyeongChang 2018 venues.

A limited number of press tours are available on select days ranging from a Demilitarized Zone tour, to an oceans and fisheries tour, to a traditional market tour. Ecological tours and a local temple showcase are also available.

The center will welcome around 2,000 visitors throughout the Games period - a rate of around 350 media personnel a day.

Written by Aaron Bauerin Gangneung

25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.