President Moon promises full support for PyeongChang Paralympic Games

President Moon Jae-in promised all-out efforts Tuesday to help make the upcoming Winter Olympic Games and Paralympics in South Korea a success.The president's remarks came in a meeting with Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.The new IPC chief arrived here Sunday for what he called a "mid-term" inspection of local venues for the Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to be held early next year. President Moon Jae-i

Oct. 17, 2017

PyeongChang Olympics ticket sales get icy reception

Less than four months remain until the opening ceremony of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, but sluggish ticket sales and lodging reservations could spell trouble for Korea’s first Winter Games.The organizing committee for the Winter Games on Wednesday released preliminary numbers for ticket sales, which showed that 30.3 percent of 1.07 million tickets have been sold so far. About 20.7 percent of 760,000 tickets released to the Korean general public have been sold, while 59.7 percent o

Oct. 11, 2017

Ex-IOC Vice President Kim Un-yong dead at 86

Kim Un-yong, former vice president of the International Olympic Committee, passed away Tuesday. He was 86 years old.Sources close to the deceased said Kim, feeling under the weather, was admitted to Severance Hospital on Monday and was pronounced dead at 2:21 a.m. Tuesday.During his sports administration career, Kim was one of the most powerful figures in the IOC, which he joined in 1986. He played an instrumental role in helping Seoul win the right to host the 1988 Summer Olympics. Kim Un-yong

Oct. 3, 2017

North Korean figure-skating pair qualify for PyeongChang

North Korean figure skaters Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik qualified for next year’s Winter Olympics to be held in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province. The pair finished sixth Friday at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany, becoming North Korea’s first athletes to qualify for the upcoming Olympics.It is unclear whether the Kim Jong-un regime will allow the skaters to compete, but South Korea’s PyeongChang Olympics organizing committee said Saturday the pair’s achievement could make it easier to persuade the No

Oct. 1, 2017

France reaffirms participation in PyeongChang 2018

France has reaffirmed its plan to participate in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics following news reports that the country is considering skipping the event due to rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea's nuclear test and missile launches, the South Korean sports ministry said Saturday. French President Emmanuel Macron and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (Yonhap)"To speak our formal position, France will go to PyeongChang with its national team of players and has never me

Sept. 23, 2017

Security remains 'top priority' for PyeongChang 2018 amid French boycott talks

Safety for all participants remains "a top priority" for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the event's organizers said Friday, on the heels of talks that France may skip the competition under security threats."Safety and security is one of the most important aspects of Games preparations," PyeongChang's organizing committee said in a statement. "It remains a top priority and we are continuing to communicate with all stakeholders, including the National Olympic Committees, on this matter. We

Sept. 22, 2017

New IOC ethics chief vows to improve transparency

EUMSEONG -- Ban Ki-moon, the newly elected chief of the ethics body at the International Olympic Committee, said Sunday he feels a heavy responsibility taking the job, but will try to improve the transparency of the organization. Ban, who served as the UN secretary-general from January 2007 to December 2016, was officially elected at the IOC Session in Lima, Peru, on Thursday (local time) to lead the Ethics Commission, an independent body that establishes the framework of ethical principles and

Sept. 17, 2017

Chief organizer of PyeongChang 2018 still optimistic about N. Korean participation

The chief organizer of the PyeongChang Winter Games said Friday that he believes North Korea will participate in both the Olympics and the Paralympics south of the border next year despite its continued provocations. North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test Sunday, further escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula. With the international community moving to toughen sanctions on North Korea, Lee Hee-beom, who leads the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic

Sept. 8, 2017

Korean Jeong Yun-jo captures gold at taekwondo worlds

MUJU -- South Korean Jeong Yun-jo captured a surprise gold medal at the ongoing taekwondo world championships on Wednesday.Jeong defeated Mikhail Artamonov of Russia 24-23 in the final of the men's under-58kg at the World Taekwondo Federation World Taekwondo Championships at Taekwondowon's T1 Arena in Muju, some 240 kilometers south of Seoul.This was South Korea's tournament-best sixth medal. The host nation now has four gold and two bronze medals.Jeong Yun-jo of South Korea celebrates his victo

June 28, 2017

Paraguay's nat'l news joins Yonhap's news-sharing platform for 2018 PyeongChang

Paraguay's state-run news agency IP (Agencia de Informacion Paraguaya) on Wednesday joined a content-sharing platform to be run by South Korea's Yonhap News Agency for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics. With the latest entry, the total number of overseas news agencies confirmed as subscribers to the PyeongChang News Service Network came to 44. Fabrizio Caligaris, Paraguay's minister of information and communication, shakes hand with Park No-hwang, president and CEO of South Korea's Yonhap New

June 14, 2017

Ticket prices for 2018 PyeongChang Paralympic Games announced

The organizers of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympic Games on Wednesday announced the ticket prices for the multisport competition for disabled athletes, with the average price reaching 30,000 won ($26). The PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games said a total of 280,000 tickets will be on sale. The organizers expect to generate 4.2 billion won from ticket sales, with 70 percent of them sold in South Korea. (Yonhap)The POCOG said tickets for snow sport

June 7, 2017

PyeongChang 2018 to open 1st official shop this week

The first official shop of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games will open in the South Korean capital this week, selling licensed merchandise associated with the international sporting event, local organizers said Thursday.The PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games said the official merchandise store of the games will open to the public Friday at Lotte Department Store's Myeongdong branch in central Seoul. Licensed merchandise of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter

May 25, 2017

UPI joins Yonhap's news-sharing platform for 2018 PyeongChang

The American news agency, United Press International, has become a member of leading South Korean newswire Yonhap News Agency's news-sharing platform for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.As the host news agency for the upcoming Winter Games, Yonhap News is developing the PyeongChang News Service Network to allow news outlets around the world to share content on the Winter Olympics in real time and for free. The system will be completed within this year.(Yonhap)PNN members will have access to not on

May 24, 2017

Soprano Sumi Jo named honorary ambassador for PyeongChang 2018

Renowned South Korean soprano Sumi Jo on Monday was named an honorary ambassador for the first Winter Olympics to be held in the country next year.The organizing committee for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics appointed Jo as its goodwill spokesperson in a ceremony in Seoul. She joins the string ensemble Sejong Soloists as classical musicians to become honorary ambassadors for PyeongChang 2018.Soprano Sumi Jo (right) poses with Lee Hee-beom, president of the organizing committee for the 2018

May 22, 2017

World athletics chief stresses importance of school sports

World athletics chief Sebastian Coe said Wednesday he wants to make the sport well represented in school curriculum so that running can be recognized as a daily exercise for young people.Coe, who has been leading the International Association of Athletics Federations since 2015, landed in South Korea on Tuesday for the 80th Congress of the International Sports Press Association, which will run until Saturday in Seoul and PyeongChang, the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Sebastian Coe

May 10, 2017

PyeongChang to co-host meeting of int'l sports journalists ahead of Winter Olympics

PyeongChang, the South Korean home of the 2018 Winter Olympics, will co-host an annual meeting of international sports journalists this week, a chance to showcase its readiness to stage the first Winter Games in the country.The 80th Congress of the International Sports Press Association will come to Seoul and PyeongChang, some 180 kilometers east of the capital in Gangwon Province, for a five-day visit starting Wednesday. Soohorang (left) and Bandabi, the official mascots of the 2018 PyeongChang

May 9, 2017

Nat'l team lugers picked as torch bearers for PyeongChang 2018

Three national team lugers have been selected to run the torch relay for next year's Winter Olympics at home, officials said Friday.KT, a presenting partner for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games torch relay, said Aileen Frisch, Sung Eun-ryung and Cho Jung-myung will carry the Olympic torch during the relay. In this photo provided by KT on April 28, 2017, South Korean luger Aileen Frisch poses with the torch for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics at Alpensia Sliding Centre in PyeongChang, Gangw

April 28, 2017