Anchor: Two-thousand and eighteen has many major sporting events in store, starting with the PyeongChang Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. South Korea is hosting the event for the first time in 30 years since the 1988 summer Olympics and aims to finish in the top four.
Our Park Jong-hong has this report.

Report: The PyeongChang Games are anticipated to be the largest yet with 65-hundred athletes from 95 countries taking part.

The size eclipses the previous winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia where 88 countries took part.

During the 17 days beginning February ninth, Team Korea expects to compete in seven categories including ice skating, ice hockey, biathlon and curling.

Some 150 athletes will be hitting the ice or snow to vie for the medals. 

This delegation is also the largest and is more than double the number of athletes who competed four years ago in Sochi.

South Korea hopes to outdo its previous best of six gold medals, six silvers and two bronze medals that won the team fifth place overall at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Some of the names to look out for include short track skaters Choi Min-jung and Shim Suk-hee and speed skaters Lee Sang-hwa and Lee Seung-hoon.

The events will be held in 12 stadiums located in and around Pyeongchang.

These along with the Olympic Plaza, where the opening and closing ceremonies will be held, and the athletes’ village have all been constructed in advance, boosting expectations for a successful winter games.

The concerns over North Korea’s repeated provocations are clearing up somewhat as is the fallout from Russia’s state-initiated doping scandal which resulted in a ban on the country from competing in the games except for athletes who compete as individuals.

Fortunately most of the Russian athletes have expressed their intent to take part as individuals.

As the days until the games are counting down, the athletes are making their final preparations in a bid to prove that they are at the top of their game.
Park Jong-hong, KBS World Radio News.