Governor gives witty speech at World Press Briefing

PyeongChang (RWH) The Governor of the South Korean region of Gangwon, Choi Moon-soon, whetted the appetites of over 200 media representatives from all over the world with a humorous address at the World Press Briefing for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

“Please don’t confuse PyeongChang with Pyongyang,” said the former TV journalist, playing on the similarity between the name of the upcoming Olympic host city and the capital of the communist Republic of North Korea.

Moon-soon cited the memorable example of an African who travelled to North Korean Pyongyang instead of PyeongChang and was only allowed to leave after several hours and payment of a fine of 500 US dollars.

“So never mix up Pyongyang and PyeongChang,” insisted Moon-soon.

Some 450 days before the opening of the first Winter Olympics in South Korea, the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) updated the media on the status of preparations as of 11 November.

From 9 to 23 February 2018, the Gangwon region will be the venue for the “greatest Winter Olympics of all time”, as POCOG President Lee Hee-beom called it.

The schedule includes 102 competitions in the 15 different disciplines of the seven winter sports associations.

Six competitions are new – the Big Air competition for male and female snowboarders, a mass start in speed skating for men and women, mixed curling, and the team competition in alpine skiing.

There are four luge competitions, with doubles and team races for both women and men.