2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics to kick off Friday with grand opening ceremony
- 6 years ago
The wait is almost over-- the 23rd Winter Olympics will officially kick off its three-week run in PyeongChang,... with the Opening Ceremony set to start ten hours from now,... at 8 p.m. Korea time,... 6 a.m. eastern time in the U.S. and 11 a.m. in London.
It's the second time the Olympic cauldron will be lit in South Korea, and the first time in 30 years that the country will host the global sporting event since the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
For more, let's connect to our Lee Ji-won who is standing by at the PyeongChang Olympic Plaza.
Ji-won Tell us what we can expect from tonight's opening ceremony...
Mark, the opening ceremony of the 1988 Seoul Olympics had the unforgettable moment of a young South Korean boy rolling a hoop across the grass infield of the Olympic Stadium,... and today's opening ceremony will be told based on the journey of five children searching for answers to 'peace,'... featuring Korean legends and history as well as a flurry of performances that will showcase South Korea's rich culture.
Under the theme 'Peace in motion', the two hour ceremony will see all 92 participating nations walk into the stadium with their national flags held high.
As the host country, South Korea will march in last,... but together with the delegates from North Korea, under the Unification flag. The Korean folk song Arirang will be played when they make their entrance. And as it has always been for the previous joint-entrances, there will be two torch bearers, one from each side.
Gold medal hopeful, bobsledder Won Yun-jong will represent the South, but the bearer for the North has not yet been announced.
The ceremony will also have a large VIP audience,... with President Moon Jae-in, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in attendance, as well as the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo-jong.
Now Ji-won, the highlight of the Opening Ceremony is when the Olympic cauldron is lit with the Olympic torch.
Could you tell us more about how that historic moment will take place and how the Olympic torch relay is progressing so far.
Mark, the ignition of the Olympic cauldron is still very much being kept under wraps. But even as we speak, the Olympic torch is being carried around Pyeongchang by its final bearers,.. including IOC President Thomas Bach. And now with the relay to finish in just a few hours, let me give you a wrap up of the 101 days of the Olympic torch relay.
From the Olympic birthplace of Greece,... all the way to the host city of Pyeongchang, South Korea.
75-hundred torch bearers, have traveled 2018-kilometers,... over the course of 101 days.
Peace and the future were big themes of this Winter Olympics torch relay-- which featured the first-ever robot torchbearers,... and even reached the heavily fortified demilitarized zone, separating the two Koreas.
The light of the Olympic Games has also been to 17 cities and provinces in South Korea,... under the theme of "Let Ev
It's the second time the Olympic cauldron will be lit in South Korea, and the first time in 30 years that the country will host the global sporting event since the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
For more, let's connect to our Lee Ji-won who is standing by at the PyeongChang Olympic Plaza.
Ji-won Tell us what we can expect from tonight's opening ceremony...
Mark, the opening ceremony of the 1988 Seoul Olympics had the unforgettable moment of a young South Korean boy rolling a hoop across the grass infield of the Olympic Stadium,... and today's opening ceremony will be told based on the journey of five children searching for answers to 'peace,'... featuring Korean legends and history as well as a flurry of performances that will showcase South Korea's rich culture.
Under the theme 'Peace in motion', the two hour ceremony will see all 92 participating nations walk into the stadium with their national flags held high.
As the host country, South Korea will march in last,... but together with the delegates from North Korea, under the Unification flag. The Korean folk song Arirang will be played when they make their entrance. And as it has always been for the previous joint-entrances, there will be two torch bearers, one from each side.
Gold medal hopeful, bobsledder Won Yun-jong will represent the South, but the bearer for the North has not yet been announced.
The ceremony will also have a large VIP audience,... with President Moon Jae-in, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in attendance, as well as the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo-jong.
Now Ji-won, the highlight of the Opening Ceremony is when the Olympic cauldron is lit with the Olympic torch.
Could you tell us more about how that historic moment will take place and how the Olympic torch relay is progressing so far.
Mark, the ignition of the Olympic cauldron is still very much being kept under wraps. But even as we speak, the Olympic torch is being carried around Pyeongchang by its final bearers,.. including IOC President Thomas Bach. And now with the relay to finish in just a few hours, let me give you a wrap up of the 101 days of the Olympic torch relay.
From the Olympic birthplace of Greece,... all the way to the host city of Pyeongchang, South Korea.
75-hundred torch bearers, have traveled 2018-kilometers,... over the course of 101 days.
Peace and the future were big themes of this Winter Olympics torch relay-- which featured the first-ever robot torchbearers,... and even reached the heavily fortified demilitarized zone, separating the two Koreas.
The light of the Olympic Games has also been to 17 cities and provinces in South Korea,... under the theme of "Let Ev