Park Ji-sung named first Korean torchbearer for 2018 PyeongChang Olympics

By Park Si-soo

Park Ji-sung

Retired soccer star Park Park Ji-sung will be the first South Korean to carry the flame for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, the Greek Olympic Committee said Thursday. The torch lighting ceremony in Olympia is scheduled next week.

Park, 36, who won a string of titles with Manchester United and Eindhoven before retiring, will be the second torchbearer at Olympia, site of the ancient Greek Olympics, after Greece's Nordic skier Apostolos Aggelis at the start of the Greek relay.

The ceremony will start the countdown to the Feb. 9 to 25 Games and South Korean organizers will receive the flame in a handover ceremony in Athens, Oct. 31. The flame will then travel to South Korea for the Games torch relay across the country.