Every Olympics has a Mascot or two and in the case of Vancouver even three which are all designed by firms that probably get paid far too much, but as long as they will sell, that’s all that counts.

Now that the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics are officially underway it’s interesting to note that their mascot is a cartoon white tiger named “Soohorang” that will be on all souvenirs sold at the the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.

The organizing committee of the Games mentioned that an Asian black bear character, named “Bandabi,” was picked as the mascot for the Paralympics.

Soohorang, as it’s know was officially created by South Korean designers and was picked as the mascot because Koreans have long equated the shape of the Korean Peninsula to the shape of a tiger and priminally all White tigers are considered as guardian animals in Korean folklore.

Bandabi was picked as the Paralympic mascot because bears to Koreans represent strong will and courage, and also because the Asian black bear is the symbolic animal of the Gangwon Province, the region that governs Pyeongchang, the committee said.

Lee Hee-bom, the president of Pyeongchang’s organizing committee, said that the mascots embody the “collective will” for the successful hosting of the Olympics and Paralympics, and will now “spearhead” the committee’s communication and marketing activities.

Gunilla Lindberg, head of the IOC’s coordination commission for the 2018 Games, said the white tiger was great choice for a mascot because “it’s a beautiful animal, strongly associated with Korean culture.”

South Korea also used a tiger mascot, “Hodori,” for the Seoul Olympics in 1988, the last time the country hosted the games.

Let me know your thoughts and being in Vancouver – “are they as cute as the ones for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics named Miga, Quatchi, Sumi and Mukmuk??