Torch bearers on bicycles pass by the Baengma-goji (백마고지), where the Battle of White Horse took place during the Korean War, in Cheorwon-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, on Jan. 21.
By Kim Young Shin
Photos = PyeongChang Organizing Committee
The torch relay for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games has brought the light of peace to Gangwon-do Province, the host region for the upcoming Winter Games.
The Olympic flame began its journey for peace in Gangwon-do in Cheorwon-gun County on Jan. 21. A group of torch bearers carried the flame on bicycles from the Baengma-goji (백마고지), the location of the Battle of White Horse (October 1952) from the Korean War, to the Yangjiri Control Post at Woljeong-ri Station, a closed railway station inside the Demilitarized Zone.
The Olympic torch was carried on a mock-train called the “Reunification Train,” wishing for the peace on the Korean Peninsula. The next destination for the flame on Jan. 22 was Hwacheon-gun County. The torch bearers headed to the World Peace Bell Park to pray for world peace at the bell, made from re-forged empty cartridge shells collected from 60 countries that had suffered through wars such as the Korean War.
Torch bearers pose at the World Peace Bell in Hwacheon-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, on Jan. 22.
The Olympic light visited the Punchbowl in Yangu-gun County on Jan. 23, another battlefield that saw heavy fighting during the Korean War. It went through the Inje Icefish Festival in Inje-gun County on Jan. 25, by the Unification Observatory in Goseong-gun County on Jan. 26, across Seoraksan Mountain in Sokcho-si City on Jan. 27, and then passed Naksansa Temple in Yangyang-gun County on Jan. 28.
During its journey in Chuncheon, the Gangwon-do capital, on Jan. 29, many celebrities participated as torch bearers, including taekwondo athlete Oh Hye-ri who won the gold at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, actor Jan Keun-suk, figure skater Kwak Min-jeong, and former figure skater and honorary ambassador for Gangwon-do Province Ando Miki from Japan. There was also a special event to carry the torch in a hot air balloon over the Soyang-gang River.
The relay will continue across Gangwon-do Province, visiting Hongcheon-gun, Hoengseong-gun and Wonju-si, until it arrives at the Opening Ceremony in Pyeongchang-gun on Feb. 9.
The torch bearer waves her hand at the crowd on the ‘Reunification Train,’ a mock train built in the hopes of peace on the Korean Peninsula, at the Taebong Bridge in Cheorwon-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, on Jan. 21.
Tourists and locals at the Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival welcome the Olympic flame in Hwacheon-gun County, Gangwon-do Province, on Jan. 21.
A group of torch bearers for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games fly in a hot air balloon over the Soyang-gang River in Chuncheon-si City, Gangwon-do Province, on Jan. 29.
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