South Korean athletes pose with the Taegeukgi national flag after a welcoming ceremony at the Gangneung Olympic Village on Feb. 7. (Yonhap News)
By Kim Young Shin
South Korean athletes attended a welcoming ceremony at the Gangneung Olympic Village on Feb. 7, two days before the Olympic Opening Ceremony.
Team Korea, consisting of 145 athletes and 75 officials, will stay in both the Pyeongchang Olympic Village and the Gangneung Olympic Village during the Winter Games.
One of the 145 athletes is mogul skier Kim Ji-hyon, who earned the ticket to Pyeongchang on Feb. 5, just four days before the Opening Ceremony, after a Swiss skier confirmed that he could not come to PyeongChang because of an injury.
Athletes from North Korea also had a welcoming ceremony at the Gangneung Olympic Village on Feb. 8. A North Korean press corps and cheering squad also attended the ceremony.
Team North Korea is comprised of 24 officials and 22 athletes: 12 women’s ice hockey players, three alpine skiers, three cross-country skiers, two figure skaters and two short-track speed skaters.
Figure skating ice dancer Min Yu-ra (left) and Alexander Gamelin dance along to traditional nongak music during a welcoming ceremony at the Gangneung Olympic Village on Feb. 7. (Yonhap News)
North Korean athletes march in the welcoming ceremony at the Gangneung Olympic Village on Feb. 8. (PyeongChang Organizing Committee)
A cheering squad from North Korea attends the welcoming ceremony for North Korean athletes at the Gangneung Olympic Village on Feb. 8. (PyeongChang Organizing Committee)
ysk1111@korea.kr
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