They have confirmed to insidethegames that a list of possible candidates has already been drawn up.

Kim Dae-hyun, director general of culture and events, outlined the ideal profile.

"We are reviewing various candidates, some who have already achieved, some who are in the process of achieving and some who are still in training," he said. 

"We want someone who is related to winter sports, someone who can show their vision of winter sports, someone who has contributed to winter sports.

"It must be someone who can relate to our vision of new horizons, expanding winter sports to a new region and to expanding them to a new field of athletes and enthusiasts.

"We are reviewing a group of candidates to decide who will actually be the torch bearer.

"We are looking at various possibilities."

That could mean more than one person to light the cauldron. 

It has happened before on many occasions since 1976 when two flames were lit in at the Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck.

There has already been a campaign inviting public suggestions for the relay. 

"We have received very positive feedback," said Pyeongchang 2018 President Lee Hee-beom.

"We will definitely have something to surprise the world."

Back in 1988, the Seoul organisers also took soundings before making their final choices. 

Speculation reached fever-pitch in the days before the Ceremony.

Newspapers joined in the fun with opinion polls.

The most popular choice was veteran long distance runner Sohn Kee-chung, a revered figure in South Korean sport.

"I personally decided to have Sohn as the final runner," said the late the late Park Seh-jik, who served as the chief of the Seoul 1988 Organising Committee.

Sohn won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1936 Games in Berlin. 

In the record books of the time, he was listed as Kitei Son and had been forced to wear the flag of Imperial Japan on his vest because South Korea was under Japanese occupation at the time.

"I ran without a country, it was heartbreaking," he had said later.

Following liberation, South Korea competed in their own right.

In 1948, when the Games were held in London, Sohn carried their flag at Wembley Stadium in the parade of nations.

When the IOC chose the 1988 host city, Seoul had been the surprise choice and they were determined to pull out all the stops to make their Games successful.

Sohn attended the 1988 flame lighting ceremony in Olympia and was visibly moved. 

From the moment the relay left Olympia it was unforgettable. 

There were performances by the Seoul City Dance company at many of the overnight stops and it was carried in a trireme named "Olympia", built to replicate those used in ancient Greece.

When it reached South Korea, it was received everywhere with warmth and reverence. 

Miss Korea, Chang Yoon Jung, was among those who carried the Torch. 

Confucian followers relayed the torch to Ojukhon in Kangnung. 

Even foreign journalists were allowed to carry the flame.

The lighting of the final cauldron at Seoul’s Chamsil Olympic Stadium was to be the high point of a breathtaking Opening Ceremony which highlighted the rich traditions of Korean culture.

This was seen as an event of great national importance and in the weeks before, the chosen Torch runners were identified only by letters of the alphabet to prevent any information leaking out.

Sohn was then 76 years-old and invited to a top secret rehearsal.

"He was to practice his run in the Chamsil main stadium and check his running time," said Park.

The session did not prove quite secret enough. 

Some newspaper reporters managed to sneak in and see what was taking place. 

The following day extensive details of the practice were published.

Organisers held a crisis meeting and decided that Sohn would bring the flame into the stadium and would hand it to middle distance runner Lim Chun-ae.

"The last runner should better represent a new generation on the rise,’’ said Park at the time.

This change of plan was said to have upset Sohn but he was eventually persuaded to take part and the following morning he was up before dawn to clean his favourite pair of running shoes.

He was hidden from the crowd until television pictures showed him waiting in the tunnel to make his grand appearance. 

He did so in exuberant fashion, waving both arms to the crowd. 

Sohn ran at something less than his marathon pace before passing the flame to Chun-ae.

Her passage was almost impeded by athletes all anxious to get a glimpse of the flame. 

Waiting to greet her was a trio of runners who were to light the cauldron. 

They had all been chosen with great symbolism in mind.

Kim Won-taek, destined to finish 18th in the marathon a fortnight later, was there to represent sport. 

With him was Chong Sun-man, a 32-year-old teacher from Mokpo, on behalf of education.

The third lighter was Son Mi-jeung, a third-year student of traditional Korean dance at Seoul Dance School, as the symbolic representative of artistic endeavour.

They were carried to the edge of the bowl by a mechanical platform as ethereal music played.

A few minutes before there had been a symbolic release of doves and some had alighted on the rim of the cauldron and were incinerated. 

The IOC received complaints from wildlife groups and ever since the dove release has been symbolic.

One of the most enduring images of the 1988 Opening Ceremony came when a young boy tossed a hoop across the arena.

"It was meant to show the meaning of peace and how South Korea was prospering by cooperating with others", said ceremonies organiser Lee O-young.

The youngster was seven year old Yoon Tae-woong. 

He had been born on September 30, 1981 the very day Seoul was chosen to host the Games.

"The little boy with the hoop was a very good memory for all Olympic people," said Lee.

Could this be a hint that Yoon, now a successful actor in his own right, would be involved in the relay in some way?

"I have not decided yet, but my director general Kim Dae-hyun) who is watching this will do something," said Lee.

If he is involved it would be a memorable Olympic hat-trick spread over three decades because Yoon was chosen as a Torchbearer when the flame visited Seoul in 2004, as part of the international Relay staged for the Athens Games.

Figure skater Yuna Kim, present at the handover ceremony on Tuesday (October 31), seems certain to play an important role and you cannot rule out former Manchester United player Park Ji-sung.

He became the first Korean torchbearer for 2018 when he received the flame on the road outside the monument to Baron Pierre de Coubertin, in Ancient Olympia.

Triple Olympic short-track gold medallist Kim Ki-hoon brought the flame into the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens before the formal handover. 

An appearance early in the relay doesn’t prevent any participant from re-appearing later on.

Greek Voula Patalidou, 100 metres hurdles champion in 1992, carried the flame in Athens in 1996 and then at the Opening Ceremony of the Centennial Games in Atlanta some three months later. 

Speed skating champion Catriona LeMay Doan was a bearer when the flame arrived on Canadian soil for Vancouver 2010.

She was also one of those who joined Wayne Gretzky at the Opening Ceremony, even though her torch failed to ignite correctly.