2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games

PyeongChang Olympic Torch to Arrive in Gangwon Province: The torch for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics that flew from Greece via Incheon International Airport in November will finally arrive in its host province on Sunday. Starting from Cherwon on Sunday, the Olympic flame will travel around 350 kilometers stopping off in 18 cities or counties within Gangwon Province, including PyeongChang, where the opening ceremony for the Winter Games will be held on February ninth. On Friday of next week, the torch will be carried by bicycle riders from the Unification Observatory in Goseong to express South Koreans’ wish for an Olympics of Peace. Hollywood action star Jackie Chan will take part in the final torch relay in PyeongChang on February ninth.; 2018-01-19
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Olympics Venues: The 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics are scheduled to take place for 17 days from February 9th to the 25th. Snow sports will take place in the Pyeongchang and Jeongsan areas and ice sports will take place in Gangneung. Although it feels like all the venues are quite far away from one another, the locations of this particular Olympics are much closer together than most cities. The opening and closing ceremonies will take place at the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium, which is located in Pyeongchang. The Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium can house up to 35,000 guests and is designed to maximize the view of every single audience member. The details of the ceremonies have yet to be announced. The Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre, Alpensia Biathlon Centre and Alpensia Cross-Country Centre are all located relatively close to one another. As an early-goer to the facilities, it’s exciting to see some of the competitors who’ve come ahead of time to practice. Of the facilities, the Ski Jumping Centre is definitely the most impressive. The indoor facilities here also include a small museum about Pyeongchang City. For those looking for Olympics fun closer to Gangneung, they can try out the 2018 Pyeongchang House located in the city’s Green City Convention Center. Here you can learn about the different games taking place at the Olympics, play a mock-up of some Olympics games and enter a 4D movie-theater to experience the games upclose. -Pyengchang Station-; 2018-01-19
audioOn My Way to PyeongChang!

IOC Delegations of Both Koreas Arrive in Switzerland: Anchor: The sports officials of both South and North Korea have all arrived in Lausanne, Switzerland for a meeting with the key members of the International Olympic Committee headed by President Thomas Bach. On Saturday, they will hold a joint meeting to discuss North Korea’s participation at the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games. Our Park Jong-hong has this report. Report: Delegations from the two Koreas arrived in Lausanne, Switzerland on Thursday for a meeting with members of the International Olympic Committee(IOC) just three hours apart from each other. The first to arrive was the North Korean delegation led by Kim Il-guk, the regime’s Sports Minister. Upon their arrival in Geneva, the South Korean delegation led by Lee Hee-beom, head of the winter games' organizing committee, got in two cars that took them to Lausanne some 40 minutes away. Both sides had little to say to the press except that the IOC has the final say in North Korea’s unexpected participation in the Olympics. Each side will be checking details of the high-profile meeting on Saturday where the IOC is expected to finalize the scope of North Korea’s unprecedented participation in the Olympics and details on fielding a unified Korean team for women’s ice hockey. On two previous occasions in the past 27 years, the two Koreas had joined hands in table tennis and football but not in an international sporting event like the Olympics. The two Koreas also agreed to make a joint entrance at the opening ceremony under a flag of the Korean peninsula which will be the first in eleven years. Unification Minister Cho Myoung-Gyon had earlier said that five to six North Korean athletes would join the South Korean women’s hockey squad, but was quick to add that the final decision will be made at the IOC meeting. As of now, North Korea has expressed intent to send its athletes to compete in four sporting events-- pair figure skating, alpine skiing, cross country skiing and women’s ice hockey. Following the meeting, IOC President Thomas Bach will directly announce the size of North Korea’s delegation of athletes to PyeongChang along with details on the joint uniform that will be worn by the athletes of both Koreas. Park Jong-hong, KBS World Radio News.; 2018-01-19
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N. Korea to Participate in 4 Events at PyeongChang Olympics: The two Koreas have agreed that North Korean athletes will compete in four sporting events at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Lee Hee-beom, head of the organizing committee for PyeongChang 2018, said on Thursday that North Korea will send athletes to compete in pair figure skating, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and women's ice hockey. In women's ice hockey, the two Koreas agreed to add five or six North Korean athletes to the 23-member South Korean team. The two sides agreed on the overall number of North Korean athletes, but details on the North's Olympic participation are likely to be finalized at Saturday's talks hosted by the International Olympic Committee(IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Meanwhile, the two Koreas will begin mutual visits and exchanges between their officials from next week to prepare for the North's participation. The two sides also agreed to allow a cheering squad of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan. The IOC will burden costs for the North Korean athletes, while costs for other participants will likely be paid from South Korea's Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund.; 2018-01-19
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N. Korean Sports Minister Arrives in Switzerland for IOC Talks: North Korea's Sports Minister Kim Il-guk has arrived in Switzerland for talks at the International Olympic Committee(IOC) on Pyongyang's participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Kim and other North Korean officials on Thursday arrived at Geneva’s Cointrin airport on a flight from Beijing, and traveled to Lausanne with North Korean IOC representative Chang Ung. The North Korean delegation on Saturday will sit with South Korean officials for talks hosted by the IOC to discuss details about the North's Olympic participation, including the number of North Korean athletes, as well as questions related to official protocol, including flags, ceremonies and uniform. South Korea will send Culture and Sports Minister Do Jong-hwan, Korean Sports and Olympic Committee chief Lee Kee-heung, PyeongChang Winter Games organizing committee chief Lee Hee-beom and IOC member Ryu Seung-min for the talks. The two sides will meet at the negotiating table at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne. The North Korean delegation will reportedly hold a separate meeting with the IOC on Friday.; 2018-01-19
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N. Korea to Send Some 400 People to Olympics, Excluding Athletes: Anchor: Spectators around the world will witness a rare scene on the day the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games kick off as the two Koreas will march together under a unified flag. Our Bae Joo-yon has more on what the upcoming Olympics will look like with the participation of North Korea. Report: When the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games open in Gangwon Province on February ninth, athletes from South and North Korea will enter the PyeongChang Olympic Stadium together, hand in hand, under a unified flag. Based on the agreements reached during recent inter-Korean working-level talks, the 16-day games will see the largest ever delegation from North Korea, excluding athletes. Some 230 cheerleaders from North Korea will clap for Korean athletes competing in the Olympics, which will be held in South Korea for the first time in 30 years. During the games, 140 members of North Korea's Samjiyon Orchestra will stage performances in Seoul and the Pyeongchang-Gangneung area where Olympic matches will take place. Add to the group around 30 Taekwondo performers and the size of the North’s delegation to the winter games is likely to top 400 people. Excluding athletes, the North’s largest delegation to an international sports event hosted by South Korea was the 303 cheerleaders that participated in the 2003 Daegu Summer Universiade. Including athletes, the largest delegation ever sent was a 650-member group for the 2002 Asian Games held in Busan. For the PyeongChang Paralympics, the North will send a delegation of 150 people, including athletes, members of the North’s Paralympic committee, cheerleaders, art group members and reporters. The two Koreas have also agreed to field a joint women’s ice hockey team. Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said on Thursday that five to six North Korean athletes will join the South Korean team. Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.; 2018-01-18
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Unified Women's Ice Hockey Team to Have Some 6 N. Korean Members: Five to six North Korean athletes will join South Korea's women's ice hockey team to field a joint Korean team for the PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games. Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said in a special lecture at a Seoul university on Thursday that the decision was made to add extra North Korean members to the team so as to not compromise the position of the South Korean athletes. Cho said he expects at least ten North Korean hockey players to come to the South where some of them will be selected to compete in the Olympics after a practice run. He added that the International Olympic Committee and other international bodies are moving toward consenting to the idea of adding North Korean athletes to the South Korean team. He refuted claims that fielding a joint team would disadvantage South Korean players, saying Seoul and Pyongyang had agreed the South Korean team's coach would be in charge of the selection process as well as overseeing the games. Cho said the North's participation in the Olympics marks a first step toward improved inter-Korean relations but quickly added that without progress in resolving the North's nuclear issue, there are clear limitations. He stressed the need to create a virtuous cycle of resolving Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program and South-North relations.; 2018-01-18
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Two Koreas Agree on Joint Marching, Unified Ice Hockey Team at PyeongChang: The two Koreas have agreed to march together under a unified flag at the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and field a unified women’s ice hockey team. They are among the eleven-point agreement reached during Wednesday’s working-level talks held at the Peace House at the southern side of the border village of Panmunjeom. Under the agreement, the South and North will also hold a joint cultural event at Mount Geumgang in the North ahead of the opening of the PyeongChang Games, while ski athletes from the two Koreas will attend joint training sessions in the Masikryong Ski Resort in the North. To prepare for the joint events, a group of South Korean officials will visit the North in advance to check the related facilities for three days beginning Tuesday of next week. During the vice ministerial-level talks, the North also agreed to send a taekwondo demonstration team consisting of around 30 athletes for performances in PyeongChang and Seoul. The North also plans to send 230 cheerleaders who will team up with South Koreans for joint cheering activities. An agreement was also made on how the North Korean delegation will travel to the South. The North Koreans, including officials, athletes, cheerleaders, taekwondo players and reporters will travel by land to the South at the western border. The North Koreans will come to the South in two groups, with the athletes to arrive first on February first and the rest to follow on February seventh. The North will dispatch an advance team of officials to the South for a three-day visit from Thursday of next week to check the facilities to be used by the North Korean delegation.; 2018-01-17
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Japanese Ruling Party Supports Abe's Participation at PyeongChang: NHK reported Wednesday that Japan’s ruling party is rescheduling the proceedings of the National Diet to allow Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to attend the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. It was known that the Liberal Democratic Party(LDP) and its ruling coalition partner Komeito held an executives’ meeting Wednesday and reached the consensus that it is desirable for Abe to participate in the Olympics being hosted by South Korea next month. Komeito’s secretary-general Yoshihisa Inoue said although the issue is up to the Japanese government to decide, the Japanese parliament also needs to cooperate with the government. Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of the LDP, also said it will be better for Abe to go to South Korea if he is allowed to do so. LDP Diet affairs head Hiroshi Moriyama also hinted at the party’s will to cooperate on the issue, saying it does not want to burden the government with parliamentary proceedings.; 2018-01-17
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LDP Intends to Reschedule Diet to Allow Abe to Attend PyeongChang Olympics: A ranking member of Japan’s ruling party says the party is willing to reschedule the parliament’s proceedings to allow Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to attend the PyeongChang Winter Olympics. Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, told reporters Tuesday that the Olympics and the Diet are very important “political tasks” and the party wants to try to readjust the Diet's schedule so both can be realized. Nikai said he's aware of the tension between South Korea and Japan regarding their 2015 agreement on Japan’s wartime sexual slavery, but added the PyeongChang Games is also an important matter that requires a proper response. Asked about Nikai’s remarks during a regular media briefing Tuesday, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the Japanese government will decide on Abe’s participation based on the schedule of the Diet, echoing a similar remark by Abe during his visit to Bulgaria on Monday.; 2018-01-16
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