Organizers of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games on Thursday announced the start of their volunteer recruit campaign, hoping to bring on more than 22,000 people from around the world to serve as "the face of the Olympics."

The PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games said it will receive applications online through the end of September. Candidates must be at least 18 years old at the opening of the PyeongChang Olympics on Feb. 9, 2018, and organizations with 50 or more members may apply in the group category. The application site (vol.PyeongChang2018.com) will go live Friday, and group applications may be submitted by email at volunteer@pyeongchang2018.com.

They must be available for at least three weeks for the Olympics and/or two weeks for the Paralympics.

At the ceremony marking the launching of the recruitment program, Lee Hee-beom, head of the POCOG, said volunteers will play a critical role in making the first Winter Olympics in South Korea a success.

"Volunteers stand at the front line of service to every visitor and guest of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games, be it athletes, officials, the International Olympic Committee members or spectators," Lee said. "And volunteers' performance will help define the image of PyeongChang 2018. If seeds of volunteerism were sown at the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics and the 2002 FIFA World Cup, then these seeds will bear fruit at the PyeongChang Olympics."

Volunteers at the PyeongChang Games will be assigned to different venues to provide service in seven areas -- games information, operational support, media support, technology, protocol/language service, and sport and medical services.

Selected applications will go through field training sessions and classes. Uniforms, accommodation, meals, transportation and insurance coverage will be provided. (Yonhap)