The South Korean team plans to field their top stars at the 2025 Harbin Asian Winter Games, which kicks off on February 7. The Asian Winter Games will be held a year before the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, so it will also be a precursor to the Winter Olympics. South Korean media reported that South Korean athletes are determined to use the Harbin Asian Winter Games as a mock test for the Winter Olympics and compete at the highest level to hit the gold medal.

Cha Jun-hwan who unfolds his acting skills

In figure skating, 23-year-old men's singles star Cha Junhuan will head to Harbin. Cha Jun-hwan is the first South Korean men's singles skater to challenge for a medal at the Asian Winter Games. In the women's singles, Choi Do-bin (gold medal in Sapporo 2017) and Kwak Min-jung (bronze medal in Astana Almaty 2011) have won medals, but in the men's singles there is no Korean athlete on the podium at the Asian Winter Games.

Cha Jun-hwan, who symbolizes the highest level of men's figure skating in South Korea, plans to win the gold medal at the competition and solve the problem of military service. Because it is the Asian Winter Games held in the Year of the Snake, Cha Jun-hwan, who was born in 2001, has set the goal of getting rid of the bad luck he suffered from last year's ankle injury, accepting the breath of the snake, and showing his best competitive condition. Cha Jun-hwan's ankle condition seems to be improving, and he announced his resurrection with his impeccable acting skills at the second round of the Korean figure skating national team trials on January 5, leaving Korean fans looking forward to the good news of the Asian Winter Games. But with figure skating powerhouse Japan fielding key players such as Beijing 2022 men's singles silver medallist Yuma Kagiyama and last year's Four Continents figure skating championships men's singles runner-up Jun Sato, Cha Junhuan will only be able to become the protagonist of the podium if he wins the competition second only to the Winter Olympics.

Cui Minjing galloping

In short track speed skating, Choi Minjing, the 26-year-old former South Korean sister of the "Return Queen", is also aiming for the Harbin Asian Winter Games. In order to readjust herself, Cui Minjing chose to take a break for the 2023-2024 season. She won the national team selection tournament this season, announcing the return of the Queen.

In the second leg of the International Skating Union (ISU) World Tour, Cui Minjing won her first gold medal after her comeback, and won a total of 5 medals in the 1~4 individual races. Choi Min-jeong, who won the double at the 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games, will aim for multiple titles at the Asian Winter Games to be held again in eight years. South Korean media said that this is the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, and Choi Minjing is expected to compete fiercely with Chinese athletes who rely on the one-sided cheering of home fans. Choi Min-jeong joined Kim Gil-ri, a rising star of the Korean women's short track speed skating team, who won the Crystal Globe at the World Cup overall ranking last season, to express her determination to win in Harbin.

"Ice Queen" Kim Min-sun, holding medals and trophies

In the speed skating competition, the "new queen of ice", 25-year-old Kim Min-sun, will compete for the title. In the women's 500m event, Kim Min-sun is hailed as the favorite to win the 2026 Winter Olympics, and she is expected to win the gold medal at this Asian Winter Games. Kim Min-sun won 5 golds and 1 silver in the women's 500m competition at the 1st~6th ISU World Cup in the 2022-2023 season, ranking among the world's top skaters. At last year's World Championships, despite a mistake, he won the silver medal in the event.

Restless with the status quo and constantly seeking change, Kim Min-sun trains intensively at the international training team "Team Gold" under the guidance of the Dutch coaching staff. Affected by overseas training and physical training, her results in the first two races of this season's ISU World Cup were lower than expected. Kim Min-sun said: "This is also going according to plan. "And determined to do well in the Asian Winter Games.

At the closing ceremony of the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwondo, Lee Chao-eun, who won the double snowboard championship, held the gold medal in both hands

The 18-year-old men's snowboarder is a world-class player. At the 2023 International Ski Federation (FIS) World Championships, Li Chaoen won the men's snowboard halfpipe competition at the age of 16, becoming the youngest champion in history (16 years and 10 months). This is the first Korean athlete to finish on the podium at the World Skiing and Snowboard Championships. At the Gangwon-do Winter Youth Olympic Games 2024, Lee Chao-eun won the gold medal in the men's snowboard slopestyle and halfpipe competitions with outstanding skills, becoming a double champion in a single edition. This season, Li Chaoen participated in two FIS Snowboard Halfpipe World Cups, finishing 7th and 5th respectively.

Lee is determined to make it out of the fierce competition against the event's traditional powerhouse, Japan, and show off his golden acting skills on the stage of his first Asian Winter Games.

Kim Gilly Park Ji-won who is smiling brightly

Short track speed skating sister Kim Gilly (Kumquat Ri) will compete with senior Choi Min-jeong in the women's 1000m and 1500m races. Park Ji-won, who has won the men's overall ranking in the Short Track Speed Skating World Cup for the past two consecutive seasons, is also ready to show his golden run. At the Freestyle Skiing Halfpipe World Cup, Lee Seung-hoon, who won a medal for South Korea for the first time, is expected to be a dark horse to grace the Harbin Asian Winter Games.