Mascots stay the main character at Gangwon Youth Olympics

It’s been Moongcho mania in Gangneung, Gangwon over the past two weeks — the raison d’etre of months of promotional Gangwon 2024 content across Korea.

Moongcho, the mascot of the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympics, greets spectators at Gangneung Olympic Park in Gangneung, Gangwon on Wednesday. [MARY YANG]

GANGNEUNG, Gangwon — The line to buy merch wrapped halfway around the tent Thursday morning on the final day of competition at the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympics.

Nearly every group waiting their turn at the register held in their hands a plushie of the Olympic mascot Moongcho, a cheeky ski goggles-wearing snowball who’s been unmissable at Gangneung Olympic Park, the venue for this year’s ice events.

It’s been Moongcho mania in Gangneung, Gangwon over the past two weeks — the raison d’etre of months of promotional Gangwon 2024 content across Korea.

On the final two days of the tournament, groups of spectators stopped by in droves to snap a selfie with a super-sized Moongcho inflatable in the center of all the action, in both sun and snow.

Medalists across disciplines left with Moongcho plushies in hand, along with their gold or silver or bronze medal.

Korea's Shin Ji-a, left, poses with Japan's Shimada Mao and Takagi Yo during the medal ceremony for women's single figure skating at the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangneung, Gangwon on Tuesday. [XINHUA]

The plushie has been the merch store’s best-selling item, according to Lee Yong-uk, the president of Wongab Corporation, the production company behind the merchandise at this year’s Games.

The store, which sat at the foot of the path to the Gangneung Hockey Centre and Gangneung Ice Arena, had completely sold out of the Moongcho plushies a day earlier, and people were told to return for the restock at 11 a.m. on Thursday.

“We came last night to watch the hockey game, the U.S.A. hockey game, and there were no mascots available,” said Lauren Maytin, who traveled with her family to Korea from the United States to support her son in the men’s freeski halfpipe. “We were really wanting to come back and get these.”

Maytin, who stood in the checkout line with her daughter, said she was excited to bring the Moongchos back home.

“Quite frankly, one of the things about Korea is that they love their caricatures, and so it’s very Korean. And we love that,” she said. “We’ve had the best time here.”

Mascots have long been the most popular-selling items at the Olympics. The last time Korea played Winter Olympics host, more than 100,000 Soohorang and Bandabi dolls sold online before the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics had even begun.

Also for sale at the store were gloves, hats, notebooks, Moongcho-themed pins and a sticker printing machine, where patrons could pick among a dozen of jumping, sledding, skiing Moongchos to place on a T-shirt or hoodie — the second-best-selling item at the shop, according to Lee.

Lee Jin-sung, with production company Wongab Corporation, places a Moongcho sticker on a T-shirt for a customer at Gangneung Olympic Park in Gangneung, Gangwon on Wednesday. [MARY YANG]

Lee, who was back in Gangneung for his second Winter Olympics after PyeongChang in 2018, said he felt the senior Games were more “powerful” than their youth counterpart.

“Most of the people are from local or are volunteers,” he said. “It’s so sad that not much people know we have Olympics in Korea.”

About 1,800 athletes from the world traveled to compete at the Youth Games, compared to nearly 2,900 athletes at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]