White tiger is 2018 Winter Olympics mascot
The white tiger, a mythological creature in Korean folklore, will be the official mascot for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, the organizing committee announced on June 2.
As The Korean Times reports, the PyeongChang 2018 organizing committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) announced a white tiger named "Soohorang" will be the symbol for Korea's first Winter Olympics and an Asiatic black bear named "Bandabi" will be a mascot for the Paralympic Winter Games.
The POCOG said the mascots were "finalized after POCOG's presentation of the Olympic mascot to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board held today in Lausanne and the International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) prior approval of the Paralympic mascot.
POCOG explained the two mascots resemble animals appearing in Korea's foundation mythology and are closely associated with Korean culture and folklore, the source informs.