Anchor: The world’s biggest winter sports event has kicked off in South Korea Thursday. More than 29-hundred athletes from 92 countries will be taking part and Team Korea hopes to finish in the top four. The opening ceremony of the games is scheduled for Friday and the games will run until February 25th.
Our Park Jong-hong has this report.

Report: The spirit of the Winter Games is running high as the PyeongChang Olympics got under way on Thursday.

It's the second Olympic Games that Korea is hosting since the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics 30 years ago and also the second-ever winter games held in Asia since the Nagano Games in Japan in 1972.

The opening ceremony is set to begin at 8 p.m. on Friday at the PyeongChang Olympic Stadium and for the following 17 days the world’s athletes will be going all out to win medals to make their countries proud.

Another significant feat for Korea is that it will have hosted not only the summer and winter games but also the World Cup and the World Athletics Championships, which are considered the top four global sports festivals.

Only four other countries have achieved this milestone; France, Germany, Italy and Japan.

What’s also making headlines is the inter-Korean unified team in women’s ice hockey, a first in Olympic history.

The opening ceremony will feature inter-Korean athletes marching into the stadium together under the flag of a unified Korean Peninsula.

Until recently tension had been rising due to North Korea’s missile and nuclear development and so there is hope that the Olympics will represent a thawing of icy relations as well as promote peace in the world.

A total of 102 gold medals are up for grabs in 15 separate categories.

Team Korea aims to garner eight golds, four silvers and eight bronzes to finish in the top four in the overall medal tally.
Park Jong-hong, KBS World Radio News.