The flame for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games was welcomed to southern Island of Jeju on its relay journey to PyeongChang. The flame, which travelled from Athens to Incheon International Airport on Wednesday, was flown south to Jeju Island from which the torch will travel up the Korean Peninsula. Thursday’s leg in the island will span 21.4 kilometers featuring 85 torchbearers on the way.As well as road runners, the torch was conveyed on unique modes of transport. For the first 200-meter leg of the

Suzy, a well-known Korean singer and actress, held the Olympic torch for PyeongChang. She ran about 200 meters with the official torch for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Incheon Bridge Wednesday. (Yonhap)(Yonhap)The torch relay started Wednesday morning, when the flame landed at Incheon International Airport. (Yonhap)Suzy posted a photo of herself on her Instagram later with the caption “Cheers for PyeongChang Olympics.” (Instagram)By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)

Kim Yu-na, the only figure-skating gold medalist of South Korea, took the white-and-gold Olympic torch on the first leg of its journey to PyeongChang on Tuesday. (Yonhap)The Olympic flame handover ceremony took place at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, Greece. (Yonhap)Kim, an ambassador for the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, lifted the torch at the ceremony. (Yonhap)The flame then traveled to Korea by air, landing at Incheon International Airport on Wednesday morning. (Yonhap) (Yonhap)By Im Eun-by

The chief of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games said Sunday he is optimistic about the Paralympics ticket sales as more people will purchase tickets during the multisport event for the disabled athletes.   Lee Hee-beom, who leads the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG), said he is positive that the Paralympics ticket sales will surge once the event begins.   "When the International Paralympic Committee President (Andrew Parsons) visited PyeongCh

Local organizers of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Paralympics announced Saturday they've so far sold more than 9,000 tickets domestically, refuting earlier data released by a lawmaker who said only 0.2 percent of available tickets were purchased in South Korea. The PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) said in a statement that 9,401 tickets were sold in South Korea for the PyeongChang Paralympics as of Tuesday, which is equivalent to 4.3 percent of

President Moon Jae-in promised all-out efforts Tuesday to help make the upcoming Winter Olympic Games and Paralympics in South Korea a success.The president's remarks came in a meeting with Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.The new IPC chief arrived here Sunday for what he called a "mid-term" inspection of local venues for the Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to be held early next year. President Moon Jae-i

Organizers betting hopes on rush of last-minute purchases by Koreans

Kim Un-yong, former vice president of the International Olympic Committee, passed away Tuesday. He was 86 years old.Sources close to the deceased said Kim, feeling under the weather, was admitted to Severance Hospital on Monday and was pronounced dead at 2:21 a.m. Tuesday.During his sports administration career, Kim was one of the most powerful figures in the IOC, which he joined in 1986. He played an instrumental role in helping Seoul win the right to host the 1988 Summer Olympics. Kim Un-yong

North Korean figure skaters Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik qualified for next year’s Winter Olympics to be held in PyeongChang, Gangwon Province. The pair finished sixth Friday at the Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany, becoming North Korea’s first athletes to qualify for the upcoming Olympics.It is unclear whether the Kim Jong-un regime will allow the skaters to compete, but South Korea’s PyeongChang Olympics organizing committee said Saturday the pair’s achievement could make it easier to persuade the No

France has reaffirmed its plan to participate in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics following news reports that the country is considering skipping the event due to rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea's nuclear test and missile launches, the South Korean sports ministry said Saturday. French President Emmanuel Macron and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (Yonhap)"To speak our formal position, France will go to PyeongChang with its national team of players and has never me

Safety for all participants remains "a top priority" for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, the event's organizers said Friday, on the heels of talks that France may skip the competition under security threats."Safety and security is one of the most important aspects of Games preparations," PyeongChang's organizing committee said in a statement. "It remains a top priority and we are continuing to communicate with all stakeholders, including the National Olympic Committees, on this matter. We

EUMSEONG -- Ban Ki-moon, the newly elected chief of the ethics body at the International Olympic Committee, said Sunday he feels a heavy responsibility taking the job, but will try to improve the transparency of the organization. Ban, who served as the UN secretary-general from January 2007 to December 2016, was officially elected at the IOC Session in Lima, Peru, on Thursday (local time) to lead the Ethics Commission, an independent body that establishes the framework of ethical principles and

The chief organizer of the PyeongChang Winter Games said Friday that he believes North Korea will participate in both the Olympics and the Paralympics south of the border next year despite its continued provocations. North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test Sunday, further escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula. With the international community moving to toughen sanctions on North Korea, Lee Hee-beom, who leads the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic

MUJU -- South Korean Jeong Yun-jo captured a surprise gold medal at the ongoing taekwondo world championships on Wednesday.Jeong defeated Mikhail Artamonov of Russia 24-23 in the final of the men's under-58kg at the World Taekwondo Federation World Taekwondo Championships at Taekwondowon's T1 Arena in Muju, some 240 kilometers south of Seoul.This was South Korea's tournament-best sixth medal. The host nation now has four gold and two bronze medals.Jeong Yun-jo of South Korea celebrates his victo