Energized by short track medals over the Lunar New Year weekend, South Korea will attempt to add to its medal haul at the PyeongChang Winter Games in its quest to finish fourth overall.The nation’s first Winter Games and second Olympics since the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul reached its midway point Saturday, nine days after it kicked off on Feb. 9. The international sporting event wraps up on Feb. 25, with nearly 3,000 athletes from 92 countries competing for a record 102 gold medals. As of 4:30

PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province -- Two North Korean alpine skiers who competed in the men's giant slalom at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics said Sunday they received a big boost from their compatriots' avid support.Kang Song-il and Choe Myong-gwang were the two North Koreans who raced at Yongpyong Alpine Centre in PyeongChang, some 180 kilometers east of Seoul. At the venue for alpine technical events, Choe and Kang finished 74th and 75th, respectively, among the 75 skiers who finished their race.

'Unbeatable' speed skating queen to compete in the women’s 500 meter event.

GANGNEUNG, Gangwon Province -- The joint Korean women's hockey team lost to Switzerland 2-0 in a women's hockey qualification match at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Sunday.The loss at Kwandong Hockey Centre in Gangneung was Korea's second to Switzerland in eight days, though Korea put up a much stronger fight in this one. On Feb. 10, Switzerland blanked Korea 8-0, spoiling a historic Olympic debut for the first combined Korean team. The joint Korean women`s hockey team players huddle around

PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province -- The International Olympic Committee is content with most of the legacy initiatives for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, a senior IOC official said Sunday, but noted that the fates of three major venues are still undecided."They've done the right things, fundamentally developing the infrastructures that will help this region be more successful," Christophe Dubi, the Olympic Games executive director for the IOC, said at a press conference at the Main Press Centre i

GANGNEUNG, Gangwon Province -- Three North Koreans, including one new face, will dress for the joint Korean female hockey team's first classification match against Switzerland at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Sunday.At least three out of 22 players in the lineup for each game here must be from North Korea, as per terms set by the International Olympic Committee for the combined team last month. And head coach Sarah Murray went with forwards Kim Un-hyang and Kim Hyang-mi, and defender Jin Ok

President Moon Jae-in on Sunday offered words of encouragement to South Korean short track skaters who garnered one gold and one bronze in their matches at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics a day earlier.In his posts on Facebook and Twitter, Moon called them the "world's strongest," praising their efforts to "push their limits" to make it to the quadrennial games that run until next Sunday."I appreciate the efforts by our national short track representatives who are the world's strongest," Moon sa

PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province -- Typically, world-class athletes make up the core of any Olympic Games. At PyeongChang, however, an unlikely entity has emerged as a new star: high-tech robots roaming the premises of the Olympic venues.　From a self-navigating cleaner bot vaguely resembling Star Wars’ R2-D2 to autonomous drink-serving robots and robotic fish swimming inside water tanks, South Korea’s service robots have been capturing the attention of Olympic guests from around the world.Korea has

PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province -- South Koreans will compete against one another for medals in the men's 500 meter speed skating event at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Monday, while the country's ice dance duo will try to seek redemption after a wardrobe malfunction in their team event last week.Male speed skaters Mo Tae-bum, Cha Min-kyu and Kim Jun-ho are scheduled to compete in the men's 500m at Gangneung Oval in the sub-host city of Gangneung.Mo, a surprise 500m champion at the 2010 Vanco

South Korean ski jumper Choi Se-ou failed to reach the final round of the men's large hill individual at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Saturday.Choi finished 45th out of 50 ski jumpers in the first round with 93.2 points following a 114-meter jump. The final round is only open to the top 30 performers. (Yonhap)The 35-year-old was the only South Korean competing in the first round at Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, after he made it out of the qualification round

GANGNEUNG, Gangwon Province -- South Korea's Seo Yi-ra on Saturday won bronze in men's 1,000 meter short track speed skating at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.Seo, the reigning world overall champion in short track, finished third in the 1,000m finals at the Gangeung Ice Arena, behind Canadian Samuel Girard and US John-Henry Krueger.His teammate Lim Hyo-jun finished fourth after a collision with Seo and Shaolin Sandor Liu of Hungary, who was disqualified for an impeding penalty.Seo and Lim were

South Korea's Choi Min-jeong won the gold medal in the Winter Olympics' women's 1,500 meter short-track speed skating event in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, on Saturday night.Choi Min-jeong celebrates her victory. (Yonhap)Choi Min-jeong (center) poses with silver medalist Li Jinyu (left) and bronze medalist Kim Boutin of Canada at the medal-awarding ceremony in Gangneung Ice Arena on Saturday. (Yonhap)It is the first time in 12 years that South Korea known as powerhouse of the short-track speed s

The governor of Gangwon Province, where PyeongChang is located, said Saturday he is considering a bid to co-host the 2021 Asian Winter Games (AWG) with North Korea. "We will start the process (for a feasibility review) soon after the PyeongChang Winter Games," Gov. Choi Moon-soon said at a press conference in Gangneung, a sub-host city of the PyeongChang Winter Games.The governor said the plan would enable "a better utilization of the infrastructure of PyeongChang after the games and continued i

Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu clinched the first back-to-back men's Olympic figure skating title in more than six decades on Saturday to cement his status as the "Ice Prince" of the modern era.The 23-year-old superstar made light of a three-month injury hiatus to emulate American Dick Button, who won gold in 1948 and 1952.Hanyu led a Japanese one-two as Shoma Uno took silver, ahead of Spain's Javier Fernandez with bronze. (AFP)"I'm relieved to be able to skate here as a lot of people supported me," Hanyu

Korean figure skater Cha Jun-hwan rewrote his personal best in the free skate event at the Winter Olympics men’s event at PyeongChang, Gangwon Province, Saturday, marking 165.16 points despite a mistake.  Cha Jun-hwan (Yonhap) The 16-year-old skater ranked 15th, tallying 248.59 total points, a best for men’s figure skating for South Korea. Japan’s “figure skating prince,” Yuzuru Hanyu took the gold meda