South Korea’s curlers have expressed their excitement to compete on home ice at next year’s Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang ©WCF/Céline Stucki

South Korea’s curlers have expressed their excitement at competing on home ice at next year’s Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.

Both the country’s men’s and women’s teams have experienced success on the international stage in recent times and will be hoping to make an impact at the Games.  

The women’s team, skipped by Kim Eun-jung, won the gold medal at the 2016 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships, which they hosted in Uiseong.

In March of this year, they finished sixth at their first World Women’s Curling Championship appearance in China’s capital Beijing.

Eun-jung’s team - made up of third Kim Kyeong-ae, Kim Seon-yeong, lead Kim Yeong-mi and alternate Kim Cho-hee  - also won silver at the 2014 Pacific-Asia Curling Championships and bronze at the 2012 edition.

Additionally, they finished runners-up at the 2017 Asian Winter Games in Sapporo.

Asked how it feels to go to the Olympics as the host nation, Kim Yeong-mi said: "It’s fascinating to be on the Olympic stage.

"I have been drawing in my head since I was a junior.

"If sketching is dreaming, participating in the Olympics is one of the stages of colouring.

"I think we will progress - like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly."

Hosts South Korea won the men's title at the 2017 World Junior Curling Championships in Gangneung ©WCF/Richard Gray
Hosts South Korea won the men's title at the 2017 World Junior Curling Championships in Gangneung ©WCF/Richard Gray

The men’s team who will represent South Korea at Pyeongchang 2018 have not made as big an impact on the international stage in recent years, but they do have a reasonable level of experience having competed in World Junior and Pacific-Asia Curling Championships.

Their career highlight was arguably winning gold at the 2011 Winter Universiade in Turkish city Erzurum, where they beat Switzerland in the final.

The team is made up of skip Kim Chang-min, third Seong Se-hyeon, second Oh Eun-su, lead Lee Ki-bok and alternate Kim Min-chan.

"I still can’t believe I will be in the Olympics," Kim Chang-min said.  

"It’s an honour to play in my country for the 2018 Winter Games."

Lee is new to the team that triumphed at the 2011 Winter Universiade, but he was part of the South Korea side that won gold at the 2017 World Junior Curling Championships in February. 

The 2017 World Junior Curling Championships were held at the Gangneung Curling Centre, which will host the sport at Pyeongchang 2018.