A sales update last month revealed that only 30.3 per cent of the 1.07 million tickets organisers hope to sell for next year's Games have been snapped up.

The update also revealed that as little as 20.7 per cent of the 760,000 tickets available for the South Korean general public have been sold.

In March, Pyeongchang 2018 claimed it would continue its preparations unaffected after Park Geun-hye was officially removed from office as President of South Korea amid protests in which two of her supporters were killed.

Park became the first democratically elected South Korean leader to be forced from office after being impeached earlier this year.

The scandal centred around her links to Choi Soon-sil, her adviser, who exerted "undue influence" on policy-making despite having no official Government role.

Han, who held office from 2008 to 2009, led Pyeongchang's unsuccessful bid for the 2014 Olympics and Paralympics, when they were controversially beaten in 2007 by Sochi after the Russian President Vladimir Putin lobbied on their behalf at the vote in Guatemala.

He told Reuters it was political upheaval that had served to dampen enthusiasm for sport leading upto Pyeongchang 2018. 

"Interest in the Pyeongchang Olympics has been declining mainly due to the political chaos which prompted candlelight vigils across the country, ultimately ousting former President Park Geun-hye," Han said.

Moon Jae-in was elected as President of South Korea after the impeachment of Park.

In September, he purchased tickets for the Olympic Games in a bid to increase sales, while the Korean Federation of Banks said they would buy ₩1 billion (£689,000/$912,000/€774,000) worth of tickets after the dismal figures were first revealed.

The Gangwon Provincial Government has also increased its planned ticket purchase from 3,720 to 27,834.

Low ticket sales are being blamed on the poor promotion of Pyeongchang 2018, the first edition of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics ever held in South Korea.

Promotion has been frequently outlined by the International Olympic Committee and International Paralympic Committee as a priority for organisers in the lead-up to the Games amid a perceived lack of interest.

A local lawmaker claimed late last month that only 0.2 per cent of the tickets available for the Pyeongchang 2018 Paralympics had been sold. 

A Pyeongchang 2018 spokeswoman claimed that 499 tickets had been sold to individuals but 8,902 had been purchased by groups, taking the total to 9,401, representing 4.3 per cent.

The Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics are scheduled to take place from February 9 to 25.

They will followed by the Paralympics, which are due to be held from March 8 to 18.