Organizers of the Cultural Olympiad for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games pose for a commemorative photo, holding up cubes that spell out the official slogan for the event, ‘Culture is added in PyeongChang!’ during an unveiling ceremony in Seoul on July 20.
By Sohn JiAe
“Culture is added in PyeongChang!” (평창 문화를 더하다!)
This is the official slogan for the Cultural Olympiad (문화올림픽), a catchphrase designed to make next year’s PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games “more cultural.”
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Winter Olympic organizing committee unveiled this slogan at the Korea Press Center in Seoul on July 21. The slogan consists of nine cubes, each spelling out a Korean word meaning “Culture is added in PyeongChang,” including a plus sign to represent the word “added.” The slogan will appear on various promotional materials and photos for the Winter Olympics.
Alongside the slogan, the Cultural Olympiad emblem was made public, too. The pink emblem was based on the Hangeul consonant mieum (ㅁ), which is the first letter in the Korean word for “culture,” munhwa (문화).
The emblem is supposed to look like a blooming flower, too, and a door that’s open to the world. This represents the upcoming PyeongChang Games’ wish and hope to, in the official slogan, “promote active cultural exchanges between Korea and other countries of the world.”
Second Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Roh Tae-kang speaks during a press briefing at the Korea Press Center in Seoul on July 20. The official emblem and slogan of the Cultural Olympiad for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games were unveiled that day.
“Entertainment, festivals and other cultural activities abound until and during the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and they will kick off in earnest starting July 24, the day that marks 200 days to go until the Opening Ceremony,” said Second Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Roh Tae-kang.
“We will make sure to make the PyeongChang Winter Olympics enjoyable for not only us, the host people, but also for the whole world,” the vice minister said.
With the unveiling of the emblem and the slogan, a variety of festivals to mark 200 days until the PyeongChang Winter Games are set to open in Seoul as well as across the three Olympic host cities of Pyeongchang, Gangneung and Jeongseon, all in Gangwon-do Province.
jiae5853@korea.kr
On July 20, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the PyeongChang Winter Olympics organizing committee unveil the official emblem (top) and slogan (bottom) for the Games’ Cultural Olympiad. Their hope is to make the Winter Games more cross-cultural by hosting a variety of festivals before and during the Games.
