South Korea Eager for Winter Olympics Countdown

Mascots for South Korea's 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, a white tiger named "Soohorang" (L) and an Asiatic black bear named "Bandabi" (R), stand on a stage during the mascots' first public staging event at Hoenggye elementary school in Pyeongchang, about 150 kms east of Seoul, on July 18, 2016. The PyeongChang 2018 Organizing Committee announced a nationwide mascot promotion tour, plus a tour to the Rio Games for more active international promotion as well as a reach to major cities and festivals in South Korea. / AFP / JUNG YEON-JE (Photo credit should read JUNG YEON-JE/AFP/Getty Images)

(ATR) Celebrations begin Feb. 8 in honor of 365 days to go until the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.

The countdown begins with the unveiling of the official countdown clock from Olympic TOP sponsor Omega in Seoul on Wednesday evening. The countdown clock will reside in the South Korean capital at Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall where guests and press members will gather on Feb. 8 to witness the unveiling.

Guests will be welcomed with an introduction video followed by speeches by Omega president Raynald Aeschlimann, International Olympic Committee representative Gunilla Lindberg, PyeongChang 2018 president Hee Beom Lee, Seoul Mayor Won Soon Park and Gangwon Province Governor Moonsoon Choi.

The big reveal is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. as those in attendance count down the last 10 seconds before the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games are officially a year away.

The celebrations will continue into Thursday at the Gangneung Hockey Centre where POCOG will unveil the design of the Olympic Torch.and launch ticket sales for the Games.

The torch will travel throughout South Korea in the month leading up to the Olympics in a community driven campaign. POCOG asked citizens and students to submit ideas for the torch relay in June 2016 including who would carry the Olympic Flame, where it would visit and how it should be carried.

A little over one million (1.17) tickets will be issued to the public. Organizers expect 70 percent of the tickets to be sold locally and 30 percent to visitors. Costs will vary, but tickets for the opening ceremony will cost as much as $1,050 and as little as $175. Discounted rates are being offered for children, students, veterans and people with disabilities.

Click here for more ticketing information.

The Olympic Channel in association with PyeongChang 2018 will be streaming the One Year to Go ceremony live on their website at 5:00 a.m. on Feb. 9.

To watch the ceremony, click here.

The ceremonies at Seoul Plaza and Gangneung Hockey Centre are just two of approximately 60 promotional events beginning this week in South Korea to celebrate the milestone known as G-1, according to the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Tourism.

"We see the upcoming G-1 mark as an indispensable moment to spread the Olympics mood," a culture ministry official told Yonhap News.

In honor of the upcoming Games, the Olympic Channel has recently launched an interactive website detailing stories and statistics behind every Winter Games leading up to PyeongChang. The list dates as far back as Chamonix 1924 and concludes with the most recent Winter Games in Sochi, Russia in 2014.

Click here to visit the site.

The final year prior to the Games will also include increased promotion of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic mascots Soohorang and Bandabi.

Around the Rings will be on the scene for the year to go ceremonies.

The PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games will take place from Feb. 9-25.

Written by Kevin NutleyandCourtney Colquitt

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