IOC Evaluation Commission chair Chick Igaya. (ATR)

(ATR) The chair of the IOC team inspecting PyeongChangs Olympics bid says his colleagues "have been most impressed." And in an interview with Around the Rings, the President of Korea promises the 2014 Games "will be a celebration for peace."

IOC 2014 Evaluation Commission chairman Chiharu Igaya praised the South Korean bid at a press conference in Seoul, ending a four-day inspection of PyeongChang.

"We have been most impressed to find what PyeongChang could offer to the Olympic Movement," says Igaya.

Igaya fielded 30 minutes of questions about the commissions four-day visit. The 16-member group received briefings from the bid committee and on-the-scene visits to existing venues and sites where others are proposed to be built.

Responding to a question from Around the Rings about the effusive crowds that greeted the IOC on its tour of the venues, Igaya says the cheering confirmed PyeongChangs claim of high public support for the bid.

"Those people who are out there, really proved themselves," he said.

When asked about strong points in the PyeongChang bid, Igaya named the quality of the bid file and the presentations explaining the bid; the compactness of the venues, with travel times not so big; the strength of government support and tremendous enthusiasm of citizens of Gangwon Province.

Igaya mentioned a couple of challenges facing the bid: improving a narrow dirt road that leads to the giant slalom course and improving South Koreas winter sport performance, with Igaya noting "that some sports were a bit weak." Speed skating is about the only winter sport in which Korea is one of the world leaders.

Igaya and several members of the IOC team took part in the inspection of PyeongChang four years ago when it was campaigning for the 2010 Olympics, but he would not make any comparisons.

"We are not here to compare the current bid with the previous bid," he said.

Before the press conference Saturday, the IOC commission paid a visit to the Blue House, the official residence of Korean President Moo Hyun Roh. Along with the president, leaders of all the major political parties assured the IOC visitors of their support for the Olympics in PyeongChang.

In an interview with Around the Rings, President Roh says the Winter Olympics could mean as much to Korea as the 1988 Summer Olympics.

He says he expects the 2014 Games will be one of the forces that will lead to unification of the peninsula. “I believe with the 2014 Olympics, we will be able to host this event as a celebration together with North Korea, a celebration of peace,” says Roh.

(More from this exlusive interview coming Feb 18, at www.aroundtherings.com)

The IOC commission leaves Sunday for Sochi, where the group will meet from Feb. 20 to 23. The commission goes to Salzburg in March. Following all three visits, the commission will compile a report to be distributed to IOC members about one month before the vote for the 2014 Olympics on July 4 at the IOC Session in Guatemala.

Your best source of news about the race for the 2014 Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only.