The torch relay for the 2013 Pyeongchang Special Olympics World Winter Games has kicked off its 2,500 km journey. The organizing committee on Wednesday held an event at Gwanghwamun in Seoul to celebrate the launch of the relay.

Along with organizing committee chairwoman Na Kyung-won and Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Kwang-sik, 131 torch bearers including 106 police officers from 21 counties and 10 athletes with intellectual disabilities attended the event. The torch bearers danced to Psy's "Gangnam Style" to create a festive atmosphere before the event.

Torch bearers for the 2013 Pyeongchang Special Olympics World Winter Games pose with organizer Na Kyung-won (left) and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon in Seoul on Wednesday.

Na Kyung-won, who returned to Korea last Thursday after lighting the Olympic flame in Athens, Greece, lit the torch from the flame and passed it to the first torch bearer Ahn Jin-yong (25), a swimmer with an intellectual disability.