President Lee Myung-bak invited the members of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics bidding committee to dinner at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, giving them words of encouragement. The committee was the team that held the final bid presentation in Durban, South Africa before the International Olympic Committee members voted for the host city for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The president commended their ability to join forces in order to successfully bring home the victory, praised their contributions and lauded them for their hard work.

At the dinner were IOC members Lee Kun-hee and Mun Dae-seong, Winter Olympic bid committee chairman Cho Yang-ho, Korean Olympic Committee President Park Yong-sung, special envoy of the bid committee Kim Jin-sun, Gangwon Province governor Choi Moon-soon, spokeswoman Seung-yeon Na, goodwill ambassador Kim Yu-na, and Korea Skating Union chief Kim Jae-yeol.

Former U.S. team member skier Toby Dawson, an ethnic Korean who also supported the bid, did not attend, as he had returned to the U.S.