Military chief makes final security check for Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics

▲ Adm. Kim Myung-soo (C), chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, inspects security operations for the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics at a command post in Gangneung, 163 kilometers east of Seoul, on Jan. 16, 2024, in this photo provided by his office. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

JCS chief-Winter Youth Olympics

Military chief makes final security check for Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics

SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top military officer on Tuesday made final security inspections for the Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics to ensure the event takes place safely over the next few weeks.

The games will kick off Friday in the eastern province of Gangwon, bringing together over 1,800 athletes from 79 countries through Feb. 1. The military will deploy some 1,000 personnel to conduct security and counter-terrorism operations for the event.

Adm. Kim Myung-soo, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, inspected the event's counterterrorism and safety headquarters in Gangneung, 163 kilometers east of Seoul, and operation command posts in the coastal city and the nearby county of Pyeongchang.

"By sharing real-time information and assessing the situation, we will actively carry out counterterrorism safety measures, such as preemptively preventing terror threats utilizing drones," Kim said at the counter-terrorism headquarters, according to his office.

Gangwon 2024 will use many of the same venues from the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, also held across Gangwon.

South Korea is the first non-European host of the Winter Youth Olympics, with Austria, Norway and Switzerland having staged the three previous editions.

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