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Hodori () was the official mascot of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. The stylized tiger was designed by Kim Hyun as an amicable

Amur tiger The Siberian tiger or Amur tiger is a population of the tiger subspecies '' Panthera tigris tigris'' native to the Russian Far East, Northeast China and possibly North Korea. It once ranged throughout the Korean Peninsula, but currently inhabi ...

, portraying the friendly and hospitable traditions of the

Korean people Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply refer ...

Origin and meaning of the name

"Ho" ( ko, 호) is derived from the Korean word for tiger ("horangi", ko, 호랑이), and "dori" ( ko, 돌이) is a diminutive for boys in Korean. The name Hodori was chosen from 2,295 suggestions sent in by the public.

Other uses and variations

1986 Asian Games

Hodori was also the official mascot of the

1986 Asian Games The 1986 Asian Games ( ko, 1986년 아시아 경기대회/1986년 아시안 게임, Cheon gubaek palsip-yuk nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Cheon gubaek palsip-yuk nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the 10th Asian Games and the X Asiad ( ko, 제10� ...

, the test event of the Olympics.

Hosuni

There was also a female tiger named "Hosuni" ( ko, 호순이), but she was seldom used. "Suni" ( ko, 순이) is a diminutive for girls in Korean.

Korean Tae-Kwon-Do National Demonstration Team

Hodori is also the name of the Korean Tae-Kwon-Do National Demonstration Team, which also uses the Hodori tiger as their symbol.

Yummy Korean BBQ restaurant

The mascot of the Hawaii-based Korean barbecue restaurant Yummy Korean BBQ is adapted from Hodori. The Yummy tiger doesn't wear the Olympic rings, has a white tongue instead of red, wears a solid black hat, and has a green letter "Y" on his tummy.

External links

IOC Site on 1988 Summer Olympics
1988 Summer Olympics Fictional South Korean people South Korean culture Fictional tigers Tiger mascots Olympic mascots Feline mascots South Korean mascots {{mascot-stub