It is that time of year again where all countries in the world simultaneously sit down in front of their TVs and obsess over one thing: the Winter Olympics. They will be held in PyeongChang, South Korea, and go from February 9 to February 25.

According to the Olympics’ official website, “With PyeongChang’s strategic position in Asia, and its access to a young and fast-growing youth market, the 2018 Olympic Winter games will no doubt expose new generations of potential athletes to the power of winter sport.” The website also includes information on a new sport being introduced, such as snowboard big air (men’s and women’s), speed skating mass start (men’s and women’s), which is where all skaters start simultaneously in a 16-lap race, curling mixed doubles and the Alpine team event. The gold medal total for this Olympics will be 102, which is the most gold medals ever offered in an Olympic Winter Games to date.

With this year’s Olympics being located so close to North Korea, hopes have arisen those good negotiations between The United States, South Korea, and North Korea could come from the worldwide event. According to the New York Times, North Korea has accepted South Korea’s request to send athletes to the 2018 Olympic Winter Games. Not only will they be competing in this year’s event, they will be teaming up with South Korea as well. “The event will be the first time North Korea has participated in the Winter Games in eight years. The agreement was reached in talks between Cho Myoung-gyon, the South Korean cabinet minister in charge of relations with the North, and his North Korean counterpart, Ri Son-kwon.” President Donald Trump also commented on the positive turn of events saying, “I really believe it makes sense for North Korea to come to the table and make a deal that’s good for the people of North Korea and people of the world.”

The 2018 Winter Olympic Games will bring a great start to the year and an opportunity for athletes competing in sports that are being introduced this year. While the games have been the one thing to unite countries all around, hopefully, they can help to boost peaceful negotiations with North Korea.