Olympic Flame Arrives in South Korea for 2018 Winter Games

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The Olympic flame has arrived in South Korea where it will be passed throughout the country by thousands of torchbearers on a 100-day journey to the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

South Korean figure skating prospect You Young will kick off the 2,018-kilometer (1,253-mile) trip from Incheon on Wednesday.

Pyeongchang's organizers have designated 7,500 torchbearers to carry the Olympic flame, which arrived at the Incheon International Airport after a handover ceremony in Athens on Tuesday.

Preparations for the Feb. 9-25 games are being held amid tension over North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile tests.

South Korean Moon Jae-in has urged the North to participate in next year's Olympics, which he says are a "golden opportunity" to strengthen peace on the Korean Peninsula.