GANGWON-DO < invest Korea

Hosting of the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games will help Gangwon-do spread the legacy of peace of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games and make the most of the established facilities.

After the successful hosting of the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, Gangwon continued efforts to host major sports events in order to use the Olympic facilities and promote the agenda of peace and prosperity. Having announced the intention to bid for the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games in September 2019, Gangwon-do worked actively towards winning the bid by submitting a proposal centered on using the venues of the 2018 Winter Olympics built with cutting-edge and eco-friendly technologies. As a result, Gangwon-do was awarded the Winter Youth Olympic Games at the 135th IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland, on January 10, 2020. Gangwon-do was elected as the host for the possibility of a joint hosting with North Korea, the strong support of the South Korean government, and the proposal of a new model of inheriting the heritage of Olympic Games with the existing sports facilities. The need for promoting the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Asia also worked in Gangwon-do’s favor as the Games had only been hosted in Europe until now.

To be hosted for 14 days from January 19 to February 1, 2024 (tentative) in Pyeongchang, Gangneung, and Jeongseon, the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games will be participated by 2,600 athletes from more than seventy countries. The Youth Olympic Games is expected to expand the base of winter sports widened with the hosting of the 2018 Winter Olympics by engaging the young generation while further elevating the global status of Gangwon-do and South Korea as the center of winter sports. Moreover, the diverse cultural and educational programs offered with the Winter Youth Olympic Games are expected to generate social and cultural effects.

The Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games made history as an Olympic that best represented the Olympic spirit of peace and harmony with the joint parading of South Korean and North Korean athletes at the opening ceremony and the forming of a joint team in women’s ice hockey. With a vision to expand the peace initiative of Gangwon - the world’s only divided province - by opening the next chapter of the 2018 Winter Olympics and its legacy of peace, Gangwon-do is engaged in various activities to lead the efforts for improving the inter-Korean relations, including a proposal to jointly host the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games with North Korea.