It’s 365 Days and Counting Down to the Summer Olympics in Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea — Dancers beating drums and twirling streamers cavorted to the beat of rock bands and trumpet fanfares Thursday as the one-year countdown to the Seoul Olympics began.

Hundreds of musicians, dancers and drum majorettes celebrated in the large square in front of Seoul city hall as large crowds watched. Hundreds of police ringed the square to prevent anti-government protests, but no incidents were reported.

The Games are scheduled to run from Sept. 17 to Oct. 2 next year in the Korean capital. Preparations are virtually complete with just the indoor swimming pool unfinished.

Seoul Mayor Yum Bo-Hyun promised in a speech that the Games will be a major success. “We gather here today under the Olympic flag to once again pledge ourselves to the successful staging of the Games,” he said.

The mayor said the games were for all Koreans in an apparent reference to neighboring communist North Korea’s demands to be a co-host.

“The successful staging of the Seoul Olympic Games will be not only the pride of the city of Seoul, but also the glory of the 60-million Koreans,” Yum said in a reference to the combined population of the two nations.