Two-thirds of South Koreans expect the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics to be a success, a government survey showed Friday.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced the results of its fourth survey on PyeongChang, in which 66.6 percent of the respondents said the competition would be successful.

The ministry had previously conducted surveys on PyeongChang 2018, the first Winter Olympics to take place in South Korea, in March, May and July. For September, the ministry polled 1,000 South Koreans aged 15 to 79 last Friday and Saturday.
 

In the first poll, only 55.1 percent predicted a success, but the number rose to 62.9 percent in the second poll and 63.8 percent in the third survey.

On the flip side, 7.4 percent said they were pessimistic about the Olympics, while 26 percent were noncommittal.

Also in the latest survey, 39.9 percent said they were interested in the Winter Olympiad. The opening ceremony was the most anticipated event of the games, with 38 percent of people polled saying they'd consider purchasing tickets for it. It was followed by short track speed skating (32 percent), speed skating (16.7 percent) and figure skating (15.2 percent).

But only 7.1 percent said they would definitely attend Olympic events, down from 7.9 percent in the previous survey, and 81.7 percent said they would watch the competition on television.

The PyeongChang Winter Games will take place from Feb. 9 to 25. (Yonhap)