The site of the opening ceremony, Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium, was built specifically for the Games. The pentagonal stadium seated 35,000. The organizers for the event said the shape was chosen because it is a combination of different traditional shapes - a circle, a square, and a triangle, which represent heaven, earth, and mankind.[1][2] No Olympic or Paralympic events were held at the stadium, which was only used for the opening and closing ceremonies. The venue was torn down afterwards.[3]
The broadcast of the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympic Games was available in more than 200 countries around the world.[4]
Ceremony
The ceremony's message centered on peace, passion, harmony, and convergence.[1][5]
Five children from rural Gangwon province led the ceremony, and were used to symbolize the five Olympic rings, with their names being chosen to represent fire, water, wood, metal, and earth, the five elements that are believed to make up the Earth.[1][6][7]
Augmented reality and 5G technology were also incorporated in the event. The largest drone show in history, featuring 1,218 Shooting Star drones, was planned for the ceremony but cancelled at the last minute; television audiences were shown a version that had been recorded the previous December.[8][9]
During the opening ceremony the organizing committee was a victim of a cyber attack, but without major consequences.[10]
Proceedings
Countdown
The ceremony began with a short film set in Incheon International Airport and across South Korea, depicting the posters of the previous editions of the Games. When the video arrived at the Sangwon Temple, the feed cut to a live shot of the stage, with a recreation of The Bell of Sangwon Temple standing in the centre. The countdown then took place around the bell.
The Land of Peace
Performers during "The Land of Peace" segment
A video introducing the five children from rural Gangwon was shown. In the video, they are shown entering a cave, and are guided out by a white tiger, with the feed once again transitioning to a live shot of the five children with the tiger inside the stadium. As they crossed the stage, a depiction of the Baekdudaegan mountain range was projected onto it.[11]
They were joined by performers handling puppets resembling the flora and fauna of Gangwon Province, as well as the four guardians - the white tiger, a blue dragon, a vermillion bird, and a black tortoise. As the segment progressed, an Inmyeonjo appeared on center stage representing peace.
The segment ended as an augmented reality constellation dome rose over the stage.
Entrance of the President of the Republic of Korea
White light then illuminated the stadium as 371 janggu players performed on stage. They performed a janggu dance, and the segment culminated with the performers changing their costumes from white to red and blue, taking the form of the Taegeuk.
Korean National Flag and Anthem
The South Korean flag carried across the stadium
With the formation of the Taegeuk on stage, the National Flag entered the stadium, carried by notable Korean athletes. As they carried the flag across the stadium, they were joined in the stadium by the Ministry of National Defense Traditional Honour Guard and Traditional Band, who performed daechwita, or traditional marching music, a form of chwita music.
The flag was then raised, with The Rainbow Choir, consisting of 75 children from multicultural families, performing the National Anthem.[2][12]
The Parade of Nations was led, according to custom due to hosting the original ancient Olympics, by the Greek team, followed by other competing countries in alphabetical order based on their names in the Korean language, with the host country, South Korea, concluding the march.[13]
The segment began with an older man singing "Jeongseon Arirang" as the five children rode a raft across the stage. A storm descended, however the buckwheat flowers that were being projected onto the stage remained strong, evoking the "Miracle of the Han River"[1] and representing the resilience of Koreans.
During the segment, an intruder entered the stage, standing behind the singer before being escorted away by security.[18]
All For The Future
Performers interacting with the "Gate to the Future" on stage
A video depicting the dreams and futures of the five children opened the segment. Back in the stadium, performers handling "Gates to the Future" performed a choreography invoking South Korea's status as an IT powerhouse, as well as the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The segment culminated with the raising of the Media Link in the center of the stage, and the word "future" projected onto it in different languages.
The five children were joined by families from across Gangwon Province, who one by one, lit each other's candles. During this, four Korean singers - Ha Hyun-woo of the band Guckkasten, Ahn Ji-young of the musical duo Bolbbalgan4, Lee Eun-mi and Jeon In-kwon with his band Deulgukhwa performed John Lennon's Imagine,[21][unreliable source?] with the feed occasionally cutting to footage of street musicians from across the world having joined in the performance.[11]
At the conclusion of the song, the five children released a dove shaped balloon, and the feed again transitioned to a prerecorded video. The video depicted snowboarders descending Alpensia, and the formation of the Olympic Rings by 1,218 drones,[22] a world record at the time.[23]
The drones would later be used during the victory ceremonies, cultural performances, and the closing ceremony.[24]
The Olympic Flag, Anthem, and Oaths
The Olympic Anthem being performed as the Olympic Flag is raised
Eight flagbearers consisting of Olympic medalists and young athletes brought the Olympic Flag into the stadium. The flag was then raised as Hwang Su-mi performed the Olympic Anthem.
Following a short montage recapping the torch relay, the Olympic torch was carried into the stadium by Chun Lee-kyung, four time Olympic champion in short-track speed skating. She passed the torch to Park Inbee, Olympic champion in golf. She in turn passed it to Ahn Jung-hwan, a football player notable for representing South Korea at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He passed it to Jong Su-hyon from North Korea and Park Jong-ah from South Korea, both representing the unified Korean ice hockey team, who carried the torch and headed up stairs toward the cauldron.[25]
The Olympic Cauldron being lit by Yuna Kim
As the torch neared the cauldron, an ice skating rink with South Korean figure skater Yuna Kim was revealed.[14] Yuna Kim is the well-known figure skater who won gold medal in 2010 and silver medal in 2014.[25] The cauldron was designed to represent a full moon when it is not lit. Kim received the torch and lit the cauldron.[1]
Wish Fire
The final segment featured Korean dance group Just Jerk[26] (who became known internationally for their participation in the twelfth season of America's Got Talent) entered the stage dressed as Dokkaebi, and performers with sparklers on roller blades. This segment in total featured 2,000 fireworks within and out of the stadium, some reaching as high as 1,300 metres (4,300 ft).[1]
Hacking of computer systems
On 24 February, The Washington Post reported that U.S. intelligence uncovered Russian spies hacked computers during the Opening Ceremony. Analysts believed the Russians instigated the 9 February attack as a way to retaliate for the International Olympic Committee's decision to restrict the participation of Russian athletes in the 2018 Winter Olympics as punishment for doping violations.[27][28]
Sandworm, a Russian cybermilitary unit of the GRU, is believed to be responsible for the attack. The worm used is known as "Olympic Destroyer". It targeted all Olympic IT infrastructure, and succeeded in taking down WiFi, feeds to jumbotrons, ticketing systems, and other Olympic systems. It was timed to go off at the start of the opening ceremonies. It was unique in that the hackers attempted to use many false signatures to blame other countries such as North Korea and China.[29]
About 25 heads of state attended the ceremony, in addition to the UN Secretary General. President of RussiaVladimir Putin was invited to attend, but declined due to the symbolic ban on Russia by the IOC.
On 9 February 2018, Kim Yo Jong—sister of Kim Jong Un—attended the ceremony in Pyeongchang, South Korea. This was a first time that a member of the ruling Kim dynasty had visited South Korea since the Korean War.[56] Kim Yo Jong shook hands with South Korean president Moon Jae-in before sitting down to watch the ceremony together.[14]
^"9 February 2018, Buckingham Palace". Court Circular. 9 February 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018. The Princess Royal, Member, International Olympic Committee, and President, British Olympic Association, this evening attended the Opening Reception and Ceremony of the XXIII Winter Olympic Games.
^"Korea-Estonia summit to help launch peace through Olympics". Korea.net. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2018. President Moon Jae-in held a meeting with President Kersti Kaljulaid of Estonia who is on a visit to Korea to attend the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
^"Guterres se reunió con el líder norcoreano Kim Yong-nam" (in Spanish). Deutsche Welle. 10 February 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2018. El secretario general de la ONU, Antonio Guterres, se encontró con el presidente nominal de Corea del Norte, Kim Yong-nam, en el marco de la inauguración de los Juegos Olímpicos de invierno en Pyeongchang.
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