Ticket Sales Mixed for Pyeongchang Winter Olympics

Ticket sales for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics are drawing a mixed response. Ice sports such as figure skating and speed skating have already achieved targets, whereas less popular snow sports have difficulty selling them.

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The Pyeongchang organizing committee said Tuesday that tickets for the opening ceremony, short track skating and figure skating have already been fully booked.

Speed skating is another sport where Korean athletes have displayed strength, and 83 percent of the seats have been taken. But for biathlon, cross country and Nordic combined a mere 12 percent have been sold.

Ski jumping, which gained popularity thanks to the film "Take Off", has had some 30 percent of the tickets claimed, which is the highest for snow sports.

The organizing committee aims to sell at least 1.07 million tickets, or 90 percent, of the 1.18 million available tickets -- 750,000 in Korea and 320,000 overseas. As of last week, 403,000 tickets, or 37.7 percent were sold.

"We still have a lot of time until the Olympic Games start, and because of the unexpected presidential election taking place in a month's time, we are seeing fewer bookings than expected", said a committee official. "We also plan to provide some tickets for low-income households and youngsters".

Meanwhile, Mascot dolls, mugs and other souvenirs are selling well. The committee signed a sale contract with Lottte Department Store in February, and some 10,000 mascot dolls have been sold since then.