Magician Yu Ho-Jin soars into the air as he leaps from a special ski jump set up in Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Square on June 14.
By Lee Hana
A surprise magic show inspired by the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games has been unfolding before the eyes of unsuspecting pedestrians in Seoul and Incheon this past week.
On June 14, a ski jumper soared across Gwanghwamun Square right in front of the statue of King Sejong. A snow boarder, floating on his board in thin air on the side of a bus, weaved his way through city traffic. The day prior, a cross-country skier made his way down the side of a skyscraper, his skis glued perpendicular to the building face in Sangam-dong, in Seoul’s Mapo-gu District. Later, a speed skater sped across the surface of a lake in Songdo, Incheon, to the disbelief of passersby.
Suspended on a slanted board mounted on the side of bus, magician Yu Ho-Jin makes his way through the streets of Seoul on June 14.
Magician Yu Ho-Jin was the lead in all of these magical feats, the first Asian to win the Grand Prix at the World Championships of Magic (FISM) in 2012.
The magician participated in a film shoot over these past two days as part of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s campaign to promote the upcoming PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, now just 200 days away.
“The tricks I performed for the campaign allowed me to experience the physical strain that real athletes must go through in preparing for a major event like the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics. For their sake, I hope the Olympics are a huge success,” said the magician.
“Now I’m compelled to go see the games at their venues, especially the sports that I tried myself over the past two days,” he said.
All the tricks that Yu performed in the city center will be made into a series of promotional videos, showing the tricks as well as some behind-the-scenes footage. The videos will be released by the end of July online at the likes of YouTube or Facebook.
“We hope that these videos, released through various online channels, will be seen around the world and raise interest in the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, even in the summer months when winter sports feel far away,” said Director Oh Yeongwoo of the Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS).
hlee10@korea.kr
