Pyongchang a frontrunner in the 2018 Winter Olympics bidding process?

According to AP (via WaPo), Pyongchang (p'yŏng•ch'ang, aka Pyeongchang) and Munich are the favorites in the run-up to the July 6 vote:

The two days of meetings with IOC members consolidated Pyeongchang’s longtime status as the city to beat, but also provided Munich a tangible boost as a serious challenger and gave Annecy hope to believe it still has a chance.

“The French are working well and trying hard, but I think very honestly it will be between Germany and Korea,” Swiss IOC executive board member Rene Fasel told The Associated Press.

Another senior board member, Richard Carrion of Puerto Rico, agreed.

“I think this one is a close race between the top two,” he told the AP.

Fasel said there is “no question” that Pyeongchang remains the favorite. The South Koreans, bidding for a third consecutive time after narrow defeats for the 2010 and 2014 Games, are pushing the case of taking the Olympics to a new winter sports market in Asia.

“I don’t think it’s that easy,” said Gerhard Heiberg, an executive board member from Norway. “It’s closer than what people say.”

Let's hope Kim Yuna can charm off the ice as well as on.