New photographs taken from a satellite show deserted venues for the upcoming Winter Olympics in South Korea.
The games get underway on February 8 in the city of PyeongChang, an alpine ski resort town of 43,000 people about 180 kilometers (110 miles) east of Seoul.
These new images, taken by Digital Globe’s satellite, show the venues, including the $58 million stadium, which was without a roof to save time and money.
The lack of a roof led the organisers to fear the estimated 35,000 spectators, including world leaders, who will gather for the opening ceremony, would be exposed to extreme cold.
The main stadium was built without a roof and the organisers have brought in a number of measures to keep people warm
The ice hockey venue for the Winter Olympics taking place in PyeongChang, South Korea beginning next month
In this picture, the Gangneung Oval speed skating venue can be seen with the Olympic rings on its roof. Below it is the figure skating and short track speed skating venue, while the curling venue is the blue roofed building at the bottom
The PyeongChang games organisers had urged the government to equip the stadium with a roof and heating, but this was rejected due to costs and concerns over whether the structure would support a roof. The temporary arena is to be dismantled after the Games.
In a bid to keep people warm, organisers will be be distributing hot packs and blankets and speeding up security checks, and also plan to use audience participation during pre-ceremony entertainment to help keep spectators warm.
PyeongChang will welcome nearly 3,000 athletes from nearly 100 nations for the first Winter Olympics to be held on South Korean soil.
The freestyle skiing and snowboarding venue is pictured here. Big Air snowboarding is one of four sports making their Winter Olympic venue
Competitors in Downhill Skiing, Super G and and Alpine Combined events will battle it out on this course
Pictured here is the bobsleigh, luge and skeleton track. A record 102 gold medals will be up for grabs at the games
The venue for the biathlon and cross country skiing competitions. Competitors from 15 disciplines will be taking part
Ski jumpers will be making their spectacular leaps from from the tower pictured at the bottom of this photo
The slalom and giant slalom will take place at this site. In total, 13 venues, split between PyeongChang and neighboring city Gangneung, will be used during the Games
To avoid any potential confusion with North Korea’s capital Pyongyang, the PyeongChang resortm, which is 50 miles south of the demilitarized zone that separates the two countries, has changed its name for the Games, capitalising the C for the first time.
A record 102 gold medals will be up for grabs in 15 disciplines at the game, with four events will be making their Winter Olympic debuts, including Big Air snowboarding.
In total, 13 venues, split between PyeongChang and neighboring city Gangneung, will be used during the Games.
As final preparations are made for the games South Korea’s unification ministry said on Friday said the North and South Korea will hold official talks on January 9.
It came after Pyongyang sent a statement accepting Seoul’s offer for talks next week.
The agenda will include the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics as well as other issues of mutual interest, ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told a regular briefing.
North Korea has expressed interest in sending a delegation to participate in the Olympics but a number of hurdles need to be overcome.
This picture offers an overview of many of the venues including the stadium, slightly off centre, with the Olympic village nearby
The Olympic village will be home to 3,000 athletes from nearly 100 nations to will come to Pyeongchang for 17 days
Another perspective on the Gangneung venues, which can be seen in white in just off centre in the photograph
The country’s leader Kim Jong Un recently reopened a key cross-border communication channel with South Korea for the first time since February 2016, and the neighbors are exploring the possibility of a formal dialogue.
The meeting, the first since December 2015, will take place in Panmunjom, the truce village in the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula.
Organisers of the Winter Olympics have urged Pyongyang to participate, unlike the 1988 Summer Olympics in the South, which it boycotted.
The US has agreed to delay joint military exercises with South Korea until after the Winter Olympics, the Pentagon has said – just a day after Trump bragged about his ‘nuclear button’.
Pentagon spokesman Colonel Rob Manning said President Donald Trump agreed to the delay in consultation with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.