A total of 26 heads of state or government from 21 countries, including German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, will visit South Korea during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, Cheong Wa Dae said Monday.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe is the only leader from the four regional powers -- the US, China, Japan and Russia -- visiting South Korea during the Winter Games. 

“Twenty-six state head-level foreign guests from 21 countries will visit South Korea and those from 16 countries will attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics,” Nam Gwan-pyo, the second deputy director at the Office of National Security, told a press briefing.

President Moon Jae-in will host a reception ahead of the opening ceremony on Feb. 9 for top-level foreign guests and hold bilateral talks over lunch and dinner with heads of state or government from 14 countries, including Germany and Slovenia, he added.

With North Korea participating in the Winter Olympics, the Moon administration has been trying to invite as many foreign leaders as possible, particularly those from regional powers, to set the stage for diplomacy to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

US Vice President Mike Pence lead the US delegation to the Olympics while Han Zheng, member of the Politubo Standing Committee will represent China on behalf of China’s President Xi Jinping. Moon invited Russian President Vladimir Putin, but it is not clear whether he will join the event.

Other attendees include the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Slovenia’s President Borut Pahor, Switzerland’s President Alain Berset, Slovakia’s President Andrej Kiska, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, Latvian President Raimonds Vejonis.

The list also includes Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg, Netherlands’ Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Finland’s Prime Minister Juha Sipila, Liechtenstein‘s Prime Minister Adrian Hasler, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, Grand Duke of Luxembourg Henri, Denmark’s Crown Prince Frederik, and Monaco‘s Prince Albert II.

The 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games, which is set to take place from Feb. 9- 25, will be the largest Winter Olympics in history, organizers said Monday.

A total of 2,943 athletes from 92 countries had confirmed their participation in the Olympics by the 6 a.m. deadline on Monday, PyeongChang‘s organizing committee said. The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics had been the largest with 2,858 athletes from 88 nations.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)