The South Korean government launched a "special team" on Tuesday to support athletes representing the country at next year's PyeongChang Winter Olympics, according to Baek Byung-yeul of the KOREA TIMES. The Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism established the special support team "in order to improve the performances of the national team athletes." South Korea "aims to win at least 20 medals for a top four finish" in the Gold Medal tally during the country's first-ever Winter Olympics. The team will have its first meeting on Wednesday. At the Sochi Winter Olympics, South Korea sent 71 athletes to compete in six events and ranked 13th with three Gold, three Silver and two Bronze medals. For the 2018 PyeongChang Games, the government will spend 33.7B won ($29.2M), 6.3B won ($5.5M) "more than last time, on national team athletes." The money "will pay for overseas training for athletes and recruitment of more foreign coaches." It will "also help secure more time for the athletes to train in the six Olympic facilities," including the Gangneung Oval for speed skaters, the Gangneung Ice Arena for figure and short track skaters, and the Alpensia Sliding Centre which will host the bobsleigh, luge and skeleton events during the Olympics. The Korea Institute of Sport Science will "also be dispatched to assist athletes by analyzing the athletes' performances and providing psychological counseling to them" (KOREA TIMES, 1/31).