British Embassy launches 2-month fest to celebrate PyeongChang Olympics

SEOUL, Feb. 5 (Yonhap) — The British Embassy in Seoul on Monday launched a two-month festival in celebration of the upcoming 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

The British House will offer a variety of events related to the sports events, and the South Korea-Britain relationship, at British Amb. Charles Hay’s residence, through March 20.

The programs will include an exhibition of memorabilia, including Olympic torches from the 1988 Seoul Games and the London 2012 Games, and receptions marking the diplomatic and business ties between the two countries.

A luncheon with North Korean student defectors living in the South has also been arranged.

The embassy will also host receptions to welcome the British delegations to the Olympics and the Paralympics.

Britain is dispatching a team of 59 athletes to the two international sports events, the biggest British team to the Winter Olympics ever.

“I am excited to launch the British House. I hope that the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and Paralympics will be a festival of sport and the most successful and peaceful Winter Games of all time,” Amb. Hay said in a statement. “I am confident that the British House will further strengthen U.K.-Korea relations by promoting inclusivity and togetherness through diplomatic, trade, educational, cultural and other events,” the ambassador said.

British House is the ambassador’s last official mission before he wraps up a three-year stint as the top British envoy to Seoul later this month.

pbr@yna.co.kr