stylistic:style_transfer
Gangwon State, is a Special Self-Governing Province of South Korea. It is known as the largest and least densely populated subdivision of South Korea. Gangwon is one of the three provinces in South Korea with special self-governing status, the others being Jeju Province and Jeonbuk State. Gangwon is bordered on the east by the Sea of Japan, it borders Gyeonggi Province to the west, North Gyeongsang Province and North Chungcheong Province to the south, and the Military Demarcation Line to the north, separating it from North Korea. In the 1945 division of Korea, the historical Gangwon Province was divided in half, and remains so to this day. The northern portion is administered by the DPRK and is called Kangwŏn Province Pyeongchang County in Gangwon hosted the 2018 Winter Olympics and 2018 Winter Paralympics. Gangwon also hosted the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics. Prior to 2023, it was officially called Gangwon-do (강원도), which means Gangwon Province, and it is still often colloquially referred to as such.