Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yu In Chon (second from right) on Jan. 12 visits Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre in Pyeongchang-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, to inspect preparation for this year's Winter Youth Olympics.

By Aisylu Akhmetzianova
Photos = Xu Aiying

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yu In Chon from Jan. 12-13 visited the counties of Hoengseong-gun, Pyeongchang-gun and Jeongseon-gun in Gangwon-do Province for last-minute inspections of preparation for the Winter Youth Olympics (Gangwon 2024) there.

He visited on Jan. 12 Welli Hilli Park in Hoengseong-gun, which hosts eight events including skiing and snowboarding, to inspect facilities such as the competition slopes and spectator rest areas.

The minister also checked facilities at Alpensia Ski Jumping Centre and Alpensia Biathlon Centre in Pyeongchang-gun, places that were used during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and whose renovation was completed in October last year.

At the biathlon facility, Minister Yu told the national biathlon team, "You don't necessarily have to win a medal so please don't get hurt, do your best to do well and grab the opportunity to share your thoughts with players from other countries."

At Jeongseon High1 Resort in Jeongseon-gun the next day, he inspected the maintenance status of the ski facilities there. He also looked around to see if the resort, which will be used as the athletes' village along with Gangneung-Wonju National University, was comfortable enough for the competitors.

"Preparation appears 95% complete and the safety of world youth is most important," he added. "The key is for us to properly greet visitors from abroad and protect competitors until the end so that they do well."

To run from Jan. 19 through Feb. 1, Gangwon 2024 will see a combined 1,803 young athletes from 79 countries participate. 

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yu In Chon (left) on Jan. 12 takes a photo with biathlon athletes at Alpensia Biathlon Centre of Alpensia Resort in Pyeongchang-gun County, Gangwon-do Province.