The Red Devils supporters are seen rooting for the Korean team in the 2002 World Cup.

Chairman Moon Sang-joo of Pan Korean Supporters which was reborn with the mission of supporting the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics to be a resounding success.(Photo:NewsWorld)

The group Pan Korean Supporters for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics kicked off the D-50 events at KBS Arena in Gonghang Boulevard in Gangseo Ward, Seoul, Dec. 21 with the main them of “Passion that Became One! Cheer Up.”

The Korean supporters and performers of all generations pooled their passions at the event to cheer for the success of the upcoming global sports extravaganza, ready to make its great unveiling in PyeongChang Feb. 9-25, 2018.

Those who performed on the Arena stage included B Boy. JBJ, Sohn Seung-oun, Park Hyun-bin, Yoon Su-hyun, Kim Gae-woo, Park Ju-hi, New East, Seven and Kim Hung-kuk to the awes of the audience who packed the arena.

Veteran singer Kim Hung-kuk thrilled attendees with his hit, “Horang Nabi (Tiger Butterfly)” backed up some 20 dancers who danced to the rhythms of the song, dressed in Hip Hop-style garbs. Wearing a marine soldier cap, he pulled out a white pair of gloves from a sleek 007 bag and got a huge applause from the audience, which included many Marines.

Singer Park Ju-hi brought the audience to their feet with her hit, “Jakiya (Darling)” backed up by some 20 dancers dressed in Wonder Woman uniforms.

Key objectives of Pan Korean Supporters for 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics include boosting patriotism through the group’s various activities.

The supporters also will have on their minds preventing another Korean War and pursuing world peace. The supporters will pave the way Korea becoming an advanced country and international tourism destination so the nation can see per capita income shoot up to $50,000.

During the 2002 World Cup Finals co-hosted by Korea and Japan, the Red Devils boosted the national prestige of Korea and aroused the minds of every citizen in Korea the confidence they can catch up with Japan. 

The supporters are obliged to stick to the major functions during the PyeongChang event, including welcoming foreign athletes as they arrive at Incheon Int’l Airport. 

Certain teams are assigned to cheer for other country’s national teams in PyeongChang. Others are welcoming foreign tourists and guiding them. They are also talked with publicizing Korean culture to the outside world, including foreign athletes and tourists. Chairman Moon and his assistants are out to secure 10 million supporters at home and 100 million overseas.

In the first stage of the effort to expand the number of the supporters, seven religious groups and 2,000 civilian organizations will be contacted to have their members join the supporters. In the second stage, ways to hold joint events with the supporters of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will be explored.

To drum up enthusiasm, domestic supporters, international Korean supporters, other organizations and multicultural families of the 95 countries participating in the Winter Olympics will be connected with each other online and through SNS.

Pan Korean Supporters for 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics emerged in a ceremony held on Nov. 1 at Seoul City Plaza to lay the groundwork to help make the global sports extravaganza in a resounding success. The event was  televised live by KBS-TV.

The establishment of a group led by Chairman Moon Sang-joo consisting of some 10 million members has been inspired by a similar support group made of 100,000 members during the 1988 Seoul Olympics. 

A scene of a downhill ski slope in PyeongChang, the venue of the 2018 Winter Olympics Feb. 9-25, 2018. (Photos: Pan Korean Supporters)

The organization plans to stage various cultural and social service events in support of the Winter Olympics and the Paralympics across the country until the festivities kick off on Friday, Feb. 9 and close on Sunday, Feb. 25. The massive group of supporters plan to working around the clock to spread “Olympics  fever” around the world, with the support of some 2,000 civic and religious groups in Korea, including Christian, Buddhist and Confucian religious groups, other civic groups of all colors, both liberal and conservative, and Korean groups overseas.

Chairman Moon Sang-joo of the Pan Korean Supporters recalled the Korea-Japan World Cup finals held in Korea and Japan in 2002. 

He said the Korea supporters rooted for all the participating teams in the world’s biggest football event, which was lauded as the most successful football event in the world by global media, singling out the Korean supporters, Red Devils, which caught the world’s attention during the first World Cup match between France and Senegal. Some 35,000 Red Devils members rooted for the Senegal team, which critics predicted would never win their match. 

However, Senegal pulled off the upset. The Senegalese team thanked the Red Devils for the support they got, without which they said they never could have won the game. It was a major upset because France won the 1998 World Cup and they were one of the strong favorites to win the 2002 World Cup.

PyeongChang was selected as the host city of the XXIII Olympic Winter Games after winning a majority vote at the 123rd IOC Session held on July 6, 2011. It was Korea’s third consecutive bid. It will be the first time the Olympic Winter Games will be held in Korea in 30 years ― after the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988. PyeongChang will be the stage for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and most snow sports. Alpine events will take place in Jeongseon, and all ice sports will happen in the coastal city of Gangneung.

The next Winter Olympics, in 2022, will be held in Beijing, which hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008. The 2020 Summer Olympics will be held in Tokyo, and the 2024 Summer Olympics will be held in Paris. Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Olympics. The host city for the 2026 Winter Olympics has not yet been determined. Following several decades of tradition, the 2018 Winter Olympics has its own mascot. “Soohorang,” an animated white tiger, is the symbol for the upcoming Olympics. In Korea, the white tiger is known as the country’s guardian animal. 

The Paralympics will have the “Soohorang,” which a combination of several Korean words meant to symbolize the Olympics and the mascot. “Sooho” means “protection” in Korean; “rang” comes from the Korean name for tiger, “ho-rang-i,” as well as the folk song “Jeong-seon A-ri-rang,” the traditional song of the Gangwon Province, which is where the Olympics will take place. 

A poster for the ceremony to inaugurate the group Pan Koran Supporters for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics as part of the D-100 events, held at the Seoul City Hall Plaza on Nov. 1.