Videos promoting next year’s PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are released on Korea.net’s official YouTube and Facebook channels on July 24, exactly 200 days before the Winter Olympics begin next year. They’ve already garnered more than 2.5 million views in just two days. (Korean Culture and Information Service)
By Sohn JiAe
Four video clips produced by the Korean Culture and Information Service (KOCIS) and released to the public on July 24, exactly 200 days before the Opening Ceremony for next year’s PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, have been garnering rave reviews online after only two days.
The collection of four videos, which star illusionist Yu Ho-jin performing magic tricks and illusions as he tries his hand at ski jumping, snowboarding, cross-country skiing and speed skating, have been viewed more than 2.5 million times, collectively.
The roundup video alone, released on July 24 on Korea.net’s official YouTube channel, has hit more than 950,000 views as of 1 p.m. on July 26. The roundup video is also popular on Korea.net’s official Facebook profile, receiving over 1.7 million views. The video post has been “liked” more than 7,600 times, shared by more than 1,580 users and has attracted more than 280 comments.
The four Winter Sport videos, each one-minute long, have garnered more than 300,000 views in total since they were released on July 24.
Both Korea.net’s YouTube and Facebook channels have earned more than 300 comments as of July 26, and comment languages vary from English and Russian through to Thai, Arabic and Spanish.
“The video is fascinating and it reflects the dynamic Korean spirit. I’m so excited for the upcoming PyeongChang Winter Olympics!” wrote Reem Molokhia of Egypt. Dian Purwanti of Indonesia wrote, “It’s the coolest promotional video that I’ve ever seen. I love the combination of the Olympic Games with magic.”
One of the comments left on the YouTube posts came from viewer Erin G. from the U.S. who wrote, “That snowboarding trick on the bus reminded me of Marty McFly on the hoverboard from the ‘Back to the Future’ movie.” She continued, “I’m looking forward to the Olympics very much.”
“I believe that these videos have been well-received because of the concept of Winter Olympic events coming to life in the middle of summer and the use of magical illusions to make them happen. They’ve also been so popular because we’ve run special contests related to the videos on our Facebook channel,” said KOCIS Director Oh Yeongwoo.
You can watch the videos at the Gateway to Korea YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/user/GatewayToKorea
The videos are also available at the Korea Clickers Facebook profile.
https://www.facebook.com/KoreaClickers/
jiae5853@korea.kr
