Culture Minister Yu In-chon, fifth from left; Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, second from right; Gangwon-do Province Governor Kim Jin-tae, fourth from right; and other dignitaries celebrate the arrival of the torch for the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games during a ceremony in Seoul on October 11, marking the 100 day countdown. (Photo by Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee)

Next January, young people from around the globe will congregate in Gangwon-do Province, Korea, to compete in winter sporting events. The region, known for scenic mountains, ski resorts and being the venue for the Winter Olympic Games PyeongChang 2018, will host the Winter Youth Olympic Games Gangwon 2024.

From January 19 through February 1, an estimated 1,900 athletes, aged between 15 and 18, from some 80 countries will compete in seven sports events with a total of 15 disciplines: alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, ice hockey, luge, Nordic combined, short-track speed skating, skeleton, ski jumping, snowboard and speed skating. There will be 81 medals to compete for.

Korea has produced several world-class Olympians in some of these events, including Olympic gold medalist Kim Yu-na in women’s figure skating and Lee Sang-hwa, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the women’s 500-meter speed skating.

The 4th Winter Youth Olympic Games will be the country’s third Olympics, after hosting the Summer Olympic Games Seoul 1988 and the Winter Olympic Games PyeongChang 2018.

Korea is also the first Asian nation to host the Winter Youth Games. The three others were all held in Europe: Innsbruck, Austria (2012); Lillehammer, Norway (2016); and Lausanne, Switzerland (2020).

With the slogan, “Grow Together, Shine Forever,” Gangwon 2024 will inspire young people to champion peaceful coexistence and unity through sports for a better future as the world cautiously exits from the COVID-19 pandemic era.

Accordingly, the mushy white mascot for Gangwon 2024 is called Moongcho, from the Korean verb mungchida, meaning to gather as one. It was born from snow, specifically a snowball that Soohorang and Bandabi, the official mascots of PyeongChang 2018, used in a snowball fight.

With only a few months to go, the Olympic flame was flown in from Athens, Greece, and arrived at Incheon International Airport on October 8. The torch relay started on October 11 from Seoul Plaza in central Seoul with a music ceremony.

“Gangwon 2024 will be a platform where global youth will build solidarity and cooperate for a better future," Culture Minister Yu In-chon said ahead of the torch relay ceremony, pledging to thoroughly prepare for the Winter Youth Olympics.

The torch will be on tour for 80 days as it is taken through Busan, Gwangju and other major cities; then on to Jeju Island; and finally through 18 locations in Gangwon-do Province from November 7.

There is an upside benefit, or "sustainability" factor, to Gangwon 2024 as the 4th Winter Youth Olympics will repurpose facilities used in PyeongChang 2018.

In January, the torch will go on a “special relay” to underprivileged groups of people in Pyeongchang, Gangneung, Jeongseon and Hoengseong in Gangwon-do, 20 days before the Games’ opening ceremony. In Gangneung, for example, the torch will go to Gangneung O-sung School, a special-education school for children with disabilities.

A woman lights a torch from a pot containing the Olympic flame at the Temple of Hera in Olympia, Greece, on October 3. The torch was then brought to Korea for the Youth Winter Games. (Photo by Gangwon 2024 Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee)

The organizing committee is also planning a variety of programs featuring a virtual reality hall, traditional Korean performances, Korean food, K-pop and more.

The decision to award Gangwon-do Province the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games was made at the 135th IOC General Assembly in 2020.

Four-time Olympic shooting gold medalist and chief of the organizing committee for the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Korea Jin Jong-oh holds up the Olympic flame at Incheon International Airport on October 8 after it arrived from Greece. (Photo by Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee)