South Korean athletes who will compete at the 2011 Asian Winter Games held a launch ceremony in Seoul on Friday.

The head of South Korea’s Asian Winter Games delegation pledged to make South Korea a competitive nation in winter sports, noting its good performance at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.

The South Korean delegation hopes to win more than ten gold medals and aims to place third in the overall medal tally.

The Asian Winter Games will be held in Astana and Almaty in Kazakhstan from January 30th to February sixth.