Reports from Seoul-South Korea on Wednesday was chosen as host site for the Winter Olympics of 2018, beating two challenges Europe of France and Germany.
The announcement - made by the International Olympic Committee in Durban, South Africa - came after months of intense lobbying by the South Korean contingent, which included a tour of the city selection by South Korea's Lee Myung-bak, who made a way for the panel vote.
The South Koreans beat bids from Munich, Germany, and Annecy, France. Earlier in the day, all three cities made presentations to 45 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of questions before the IOC members voted by secret ballot.
Olympic Games 2018 will be held in Pyeongchang, a city of South Korea's third largest county of the same name. The site is in the picturesque mountain region Taebaek, which is famous here for winter sports.
The choice of Pyeongchang follows two close defeats South Korea in attempts to 2010 and 2014 games in Vancouver, Canada and Sochi in Russia, respectively.
Initial reports placed the bid of South Korea as a slight favorite in Germany, with France as a distant third choice.
Choice of means for 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games will be held in Asia for the first time since the 1998 Games held in Nagano, Japan.
In another piece of brinkmanship, both South Korea and Germany has sent national skating queens to help swing the vote. Katarina Witt, a two-time Olympic figure skating champion, led the bid committee Munich. Kim Yu-na, gold medalist 2010 Figure skating, served as honorary ambassador for the efforts of South Korea.
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