PyeongChang Olympics torch to arrive in Seoul on Saturday
The torch for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games will tour Seoul later this week as one of its stops toward the venue of the country's first Winter Olympics, the city government said Thursday.
It will mark the first time in nearly 30 years for the capital city to hold a torch relay event since the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul. The 2018 Winter Games will kick off in PyeongChang, which lies 180 kilometers east of Seoul in Gangwon Province, on Feb. 9.
The Seoul Metropolitan government said the torch relay will be held in the city from Saturday to Tuesday in a course which spans 103 kilometers, with some 600 torchbearers joining the race.
The Olympic torch carries the flame that was lit at the Temple of Hera in Greece in October, which arrived in South Korea in November. It then toured major cities across the country including Jeju, Busan, Gwanju, Daejeon, and Incheon before arriving Seoul.
Major bearers in Seoul will include South Korean football legend Cha Bum-kun and actor Park Bo-gum, along with various citizens.
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said the city will focus efforts on promoting the upcoming Winter Games in the country.
After leaving Seoul, the torch will travel the northern parts of Gyeonggi Province and head towards the host city of the Winter Games. The combined distance traveled by the torch will reach 2,018 kilometers, carried by around 7,500 torchbearers. The Olympics will run from Feb. 9 to 25. (Yonhap)