GANGWON-DO < invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday sought to promote the upcoming Winter Olympic Games to be held here in rare meetings with ordinary citizens and the media.

The president traveled to a venue of the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in Gangneung, using the KTX express train that covers the 277-kilometer distance between Incheon International Airport and PyeongChang in less than two hours. Gangneung is another 15-minute ride from PyeongChang and houses the main ice rink to be used in the Winter Olympic Games.

The quadrennial event will be held Feb. 9-25, with the ensuing Paralympic Games slated to be held March 9-18.

While on the train, the president met a group of 20 citizens who have purchased tickets for the Pyeongchang Games. Moon, an honorary ambassador for the PyeongChang Olympic Games, earlier promised to hold such an event for those who purchase tickets to the games.

"We are thoroughly preparing for the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, and we will have completely built the necessary transportation infrastructure for the event when the Seoul-Gangneung KTX line opens on Dec. 22. With all the preparations made, efforts to promote and boom the event are now important," Moon told the meeting.

The 20 participants were selected from over 13,000 people who posted photos of themselves with their own tickets to the Olympic Games at an event website, according to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.

"Thanks to you, I am confident the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games will be a festival for all people," Moon said, according to Cheong Wa Dae pool reports.

The president also held a separate meeting with a group of sports news editors from about 35 local news outlets.

In his Q&A session with the sports editors, Moon said he's holding out hope that North Korea will participate in the first Winter Olympics taking place in South Korea.

The North Korean figure skating pairs team of Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik qualified for PyeongChang in September but their country missed the Oct. 30 deadline to submit their entry. But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said it has extended an invitation to North Korea to participate in the PyeongChang Olympics and it will provide the necessary support to make it possible.

"I hope North Korea will take part in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics," Moon said. "The International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) are working closely to encourage North Korea's participation. Given past examples, I think North Korea will confirm its participation at the very last minute. We'll continue to persuade them until then. Our government is waiting patiently."

Moon said the Olympic Games are about peace and harmony, and having three consecutive Olympics in Northeast Asia -- Tokyo will host the 2020 Summer Games and Beijing will stage the 2022 Winter Games -- is "an extremely important opportunity" for the region.

"If the three countries take these Olympics as an opportunity and can cooperate with one another, it will contribute a great deal to not just peace on the Korean Peninsula, but to peace and co-prospoertiy in Northeast Asia," the president added. "The three countries have already agreed to work together for the success of their Olympic Games, and our government has big expectations. Since PyeongChang will represent the first step, we want to ensure its success so that it will be a starting point for peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia."

Asked to define what would entail the success of PyeongChang 2018, Moon said he'd like to see athletes from the host country excel in their sports.

"I hope our athletes win a lot of medals," he said. "It will boost the spirit of our people, and our athletes will be rewarded for their sweat. I hope the Olympics will be a festival for our people."

Moon, a well-known fan of most sports, said he hardly had a chance to play winter sports because he grew up in the southern city of Busan, but he still enjoys watching them. He listed speed skaters Lee Sang-hwa, Lee Seung-hoon and Kim Bo-reum as athletes he'll watch closely during the PyeongChang Olympics.

In Gangneung, he made a surprise appearance at a workshop of volunteers for the Winter Olympic Games to personally express his gratitude for their service, a Cheong Wa Dae official said, while speaking on condition of anonymity.

He returned to Seoul, again using the same express train.


President Moon Jae-in speaks during his Q&A session with sports news editors from about 35 local news outlets aboard a KTX express train traveling from Incheon International Airport to Gangneung, the host of all ice events during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, on Dec. 19, 2017. (Yonhap)

bdk@yna.co.kr

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