A white elephant is an economic term for a facility that is built for a big event, but only costs money to maintain after the event.The term originated when an ancient Thai king presented a white elephant to an unhappy subordinate as a symbol of blessing, but it consumed a lot of feed.There are many facilities called ‘white elephants’ in Korea.The Incheon Asiad Main Stadium, which served as the main stadium for the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, Yeongam International Motor Racing Center, which served as an F1 venue, and Gangneung Oval, which served as the speed skating venue for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
The Gangneung Oval is a massive ice arena that cost 130 billion won to build, and it fell into a deep sleep after the last medal race of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics on February 24, 2018.Gangneung Oval, which covers an area of 37,846 square meters, was never utilized as an ice rink by Gangwon Province, which owns the stadium. It couldn’t afford the cost of maintaining the ice track year-round.Gangneung Oval was mainly used for exhibitions and events, but this was also not feasible.Since 2020, it has been used for movie sets such as Hansan 무료슬롯게임 and Noryang. This was far from the purpose of the Olympic legacy.