Boxing and hip-hop stars Floyd Mayweather Jr., Lil Wayne and Lil Jamez have canceled their highly anticipated visit to Korea. On Saturday, TMT Music Group said in an official press release that the “2018 Seoulfull: TMT Music Group” concert -- originally slated for Jan. 27 in Seoul -- has been canceled due to unspecified problems concerning Mayweather‘s visa to Korea. It vowed to reschedule the concert and notify fans as soon as possible. “2018 Seoulfull: TMT Music Group” (Yonhap)Mayweather, who

South Korea's presidential office on Sunday welcomed the International Olympic Committee's approval of North Korean athletes' participation in the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics. The IOC said Saturday that North Korea will be allowed to send 22 athletes to compete in three sports at the games after a meeting with representatives from the two Koreas in Lausanne, Switzerland.They include 12 North Korean players to join the South Korean women's hockey squad to establish the first joint Olympi

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Olympic and government officials from North Korea and South Korea have begun a meeting at the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Switzerland to confirm how they will unite for the Pyeongchang Winter Games next month.Sports ministers from both countries have joined the session to build on a breakthrough agreement reached Wednesday at their shared border. yeongChang 2018 Olympics (POCOG) President Lee Hee-beom, North Korea`s Sports Minister and Olympic Committ

LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The International Olympic Committee said Friday it has created a pool of 389 Russians who are eligible to compete under a neutral flag at next month's Winter Olympics amid the country's doping scandal.An IOC panel whittled down an initial list of 500 to create what the IOC calls "a pool of clean athletes.'' That could potentially make it possible for Russia to meet its target of fielding around 200 athletes in Pyeongchang _ slightly fewer than in Sochi in 2014, but more

South Korea's top diplomat said Friday Seoul is working closely with the international community to make sure North Korea's PyeongChang Olympic participation does not run afoul of international sanctions imposed on the North. "We are closely working with the United States and the United Nations Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea so that there should be no controversy regarding the North's PyeongChang Olympic participation running counter to international sanctions,"Foreign Minis

Only an hour's drive from the Winter Olympics venues in South Korea, a stained mattress lies in an abandoned ski resort, a possible harbinger of the gleaming new facilities' fate.The Alps Ski Resort was one of the country's first winter sports destinations, attracting tens of thousands of skiers every year until it abruptly shut its doors in 2006.Now South Korea has spent $800 million on the sporting facilities for next month's Winter Olympics, but the International Olympic Committee has express

Ticket sales for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympics have surpassed 70 percent, the event's organizers said Friday.There are less than 50 days left until the opening of the first Winter Paralympic Games in South Korea. And as of Thursday, 155,000 tickets had been sold, or 70.4 percent of the organizers' target of 220,000 tickets. The Winter Paralympics will be staged from March 9 to 18 in PyeongChang, 180 kilometers east of Seoul, and other sub-host cities nearby.  South Korean first lady Ki

Former South Korean Olympic short track champion Shim Suk-hee has resumed training after allegedly being assaulted by her own coach earlier in the week, the national skating federation said Friday.An official with the Korea Skating Union said Shim rejoined the national team at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, 90 kilometers south of Seoul, late Thursday, two days after leaving the team."The national team staff reported that Shim joined the rest of the skaters for morning practic

A joint men's bobsled team between the two Koreas could be formed for training and track testing ahead of next month's PyeongChang Winter Olympics in the South, the international bobsled governing body has said.The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation said on its website Thursday that a "mixed 4-man bobsleigh team with athletes from North and South Korea could be among the sleds testing the conditions" ahead of the Olympic races scheduled for Feb. 24 and 25.IBSF President Ivo Ferriani

The International Olympic Committee said Friday it carried out more than 14,000 doping tests last year ahead of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, marking a whopping 70 percent on-year growth.The IOC said the tests were conducted between April and December on around 6,000 athletes from 61 countries taking part in the 2018 Winter Games, which are scheduled to run from Feb. 9 to 25 in the alpine town of PyeongChang, 180 kilometers east of Seoul. Doping test instruments (AP-Yonhap)The committee has b

The International Ice Hockey Federation has expressed support for the creation of a unified inter-Korean women's ice hockey team for the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics, a US broadcaster reported Friday. The two Koreas agreed at their working-level talks on Wednesday to field the joint squad at the Feb. 9-25 Games. The International Olympic Committee will review the agreement and determine the size of the unified roster on Saturday. South Korea hopes the roster will be expanded to as many a

The South Korean government said Friday it will push to expand cooperation and exchanges in sports and culture with the North, including a joint entrance at the opening of this year's Asian Games in Indonesia. In a 2018 policy report to Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said it plans to seek joint entrances and organize joint cheering squads with the North at future international sporting events, including the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, in Augus

South Korea started the new year as the world's 59th placed football team in the FIFA rankings. According to the January men's rankings table released by FIFA on Thursday, South Korea moved up one spot to No. 59 with 569 points. South Korea were the world's 37th-ranked team one year ago. The Taeguk Warriors, having qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, had the fourth highest position among Asian Football Confederation (AFC) members. Iran fell two spots to No. 34, but remained the top-ranked Asi

Two Koreas’ decision to use the North’s Masikryong Ski Resort as training facility draws flak

South Korea announced the men's and women's hockey rosters for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Thursday, with the women's squad subject to changes following an inter-Korean agreement on a joint team.The men's team, coached by former National Hockey League defenseman Jim Paek, named 14 forwards, eight defensemen and three goalies. The women's team, with former Canadian star Sarah Murray at the helm, has 14 forwards, six rearguards and three goalies.For both men's and women's tournaments, game