THE KUKMIN DAILY

“The wind chill factor will probably be minus 20 degrees Celsius at the time of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. What a happy feeling it will be for our international visitors to receive these soft mufflers! Isn’t this Koreans’ warm culture of ‘jeong’ (affection, care)?”

On February 6 at Gangneung City Hall in Gangweon-do, Eom Chang-seob (73, photo), professor emeritus of Catholic Kwandong University, displayed a 1.8-meter-long white muffler. Knitted entirely by hand, these mufflers will be given to the 20,000 some overseas participants in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics, including to heads of state and athletes’ and supporters’ teams.

Prof. Eom is promoting the “Knitting For You” movement to present white mufflers to all the Winter Olympics participants from other countries. The movement is led by the organization K-Jeongnanum, Inc.

* Marathoner Lee Bong-ju, K-Jeongnanum’s publicity ambassador, and his wife knit mufflers together for the athletes at their home in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do on February 6. Photo provided by Lee Bong-ju.

K-Jeongnanum sends yarn and knitting needles to the volunteers by special delivery. When a muffler is finished, the sponsoring organization collects it along with a thank-you card written by the volunteer. Then the muffler is laundered, affixed with a Korean taegeuk (yin-yang) symbol, and sent together with the thank-you card to Olympic Village.

If you would like to participate as a knitting volunteer, you may submit your request via homepage or fax (jeongnanum.kr ? 033-651-2080).

Article and photo by reporter Paek Sang-hyun (100sh@kmib.co.kr), from Gangneung, with Marion Kim (marionkkim@icloud.com)


Full Story in Korean:
“평창 동계올림픽 해외 참가자에 한국의 따뜻한 情 전합시다”: 직접 짠 흰목도리 전달운동(니팅 포 유) 벌이는 엄창섭 교수