South Korea's Paralympic committee said Friday it is preparing to invite North Korea to the PyeongChang Winter Paralympics, which are slated for March, amid hope of inter-Korean reconciliation through sporting events.During the first official talks between the two Koreas in more than two years, North Korea said earlier this week that it plans to send a delegation of athletes to the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, also raising the possibility that the North could join the Paralympic Games in March."

South Korean speed skating star Lee Sang-hwa on Friday voiced confidence for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, where she'll chase her third straight gold medal in the 500 meters.Lee got in her final tune-up before the title defense at the National Winter Sports Festival in Seoul, handily winning the race in 38.21 seconds.The Olympics start on Feb. 9, and Lee's 500m race is scheduled for Feb. 18."I expected to come in around 38.55, and this was a satisfying result," Lee said at the Taereung I

The PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games are just a few weeks away, but the booking rate for accommodations in Gangwon Province remains below 30 percent despite the government’s effort to crack down on price gouging.The Olympic Plaza in PyeongChang, South Korea, where opening and closing ceremonies will be held. YonhapAs of last week, 16,744 individual rooms have been booked ahead of the games out of 67,879 rooms at 4,797 accommodations, according to the PyeongChang Organizing Committee. While rooms

South Korean star actor Lee Dong-wook on Friday was named an honorary ambassador for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics that will kick off next month.In a ceremony held in Seoul, Lee joined a slew of other Korean wave stars including actors Lee Min-ho and Kim Woo-bin as the latest goodwill spokesperson for South Korea's first Winter Games.The competition will start on Feb. 8 for a 17-day run in PyeongChang and two other adjacent cities in Gangwon Province. Lee Dong-wook (Yonhap) Lee Dong-wook

Host South Korea has earned a spot in figure skating's team event at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.   The International Skating Union finalized the list of 10 qualified nations on Friday. For the team event, countries must be inside the top 10 in the ISU's qualification points and also must have qualified in three of the other four individual events -- pairs, ice dance, men's singles and women's singles.   South Korea ranked 11th in points with 1,397 points, but Spain, which was ninth wit

Once a struggling short track speed skater, Kim Bo-reum has carved out a successful niche in speed skating's mass start -- a relatively new event with a twist.The mass start will make its Winter Olympics debut at PyeongChang 2018 next month, and Kim, skating on home ice, will be among the medal contenders there.Skaters all start simultaneously in the mass start, and the 16-lap race requires plenty of planning and strategizing, with some physical contact allowed as skaters, without being assigned

The PyeongChang 2018 Olympic torch is set to arrive Saturday in Seoul -- the host city of the 1988 Summer Games -- as part of the torch relay across the country in the run-up to February’s Winter Games in Gangwon Province.  Photo taken in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. (Yonhap)The Seoul Metropolitan Government said the torch, which carries the flame that was lit at the Temple of Hera in Greece in October last year and arrived in South Korea in November, will tour the capital city until Tuesday. Thi

Public transportation in the Olympic cities PyeongChang and Gangneung will be free of charge during the games. The organizing committee for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Games said there will be 700 shuttle buses for 27 routes throughout the Olympics period. Passengers without Olympic tickets can also ride the buses for free.KTX to Gangneung (Yonhap)The Gyeonggang line KTX trains to the region, there will be a total of 51 trains a day to Gangneung at 20-minute interval

North Korea has agreed to send athletes to the 2018 Winter Olympics, but the question remains: How many are coming? North Korean cheerleaders cheer for South Korean athletes at the 2003 Summer Universiade held at the Daegu World Cup Stadium in South Korea. (Yonhap)On Wednesday, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said “a massive delegation totaling between 400-500 people” is expected to visit South Korea, during a meeting with companies sponsoring the PyeongChang Olympics. Earlier in the morning, the Pye

The organizing committee for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games said Tuesday it opened the main media working space in PyeongChang, where journalists around the globe will deliver real-time updates of the event to international audiences.The PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games said the Main Press Centre will be located in the Alpensia Resort in PyeongChang, some 180 kilometers east of Seoul, near venues for ski events.The games are scheduled for Feb. 9-25

The International Olympic Committee has “extended the deadline” for North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics, it announced on Monday.“We will be as flexible as we can be,” an IOC spokesman told AFP over North Korea sending a team to the Pyeongchang Games in South Korea.On Tuesday North and South Korea will hold their first official dialogue in more than two years to discuss the North’s participation at the 2018 Games in the truce village of Panmunjom. North Korea`s representative to th

Korea is projected to win seven gold medals to set its Winter Games record and rank sixth overall at the upcoming PyeongChang Olympics, a US sports data analysis firm said Tuesday.Gracenote's Virtual Medal Table showed Korea will capture seven gold and three silver medals as the host of the 2018 Winter Olympics.The projected gold medal tally would set a new Winter Olympics record for Korea, which previously won six gold medals at Torino 2006 and again at Vancouver 2010.Korea's objective is to gr

South Korean teen figure skating phenom Cha Jun-hwan staged an impressive rally to qualify for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Sunday. Cha, 16, won the men's singles at the Korea Figure Skating Championships, which doubled as the third and final leg of the Olympic trials, at Mokdong Ice Rink in Seoul, with the overall score of 252.65 points. He scored 168.60 points in free skate, adding to 84.05 points from Saturday's short program.With that, Cha won the qualification stage with 684.23 p

A pair of teenage figure skaters qualified for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics in the ladies' singles Sunday.Choi Da-bin, 17, and Kim Ha-nul, 15, will represent the host country next month in one of the Winter Games' marquee events, after finishing one-two in the Olympic trials that wrapped up at Mokdong Ice Rink in Seoul on Sunday.At the Korea Figure Skating Championships, the third and final leg of qualifying events, Choi finished with 190.12 points, for a total of 540.28. Kim scored 176.92 poin

With his fourth international victory in six starts this season, Olympic medal hopes have brightened for South Korean skeleton star Yun Sung-bin.Yun won the men's skeleton title at the sixth leg of the 2017-2018 International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) World Cup season on Friday (local time) in Altenberg, Germany.Firmly entrenched at the top of the World Cup standings, Yun has four wins and two runner-up finishes in six starts.With a combined time of 1:54.28 after two runs, Yun defea