South Korea will hope to unearth a new star to emulate the great Kim Yu-Na when they hold the Four Continents this week, ahead of next month's world championships.
The highly decorated former Olympic champion hung up her skates last year, with the five-time Four Continents hosts now scratching around for a medal in Seoul this week.
South Korea have long been outsiders at the annual event, which could be renamed the "Four Nations" as the United States, Canada, Japan and China have won 190 of the 192 medals.
South Korea and Uzbekistan claimed the other two but both countries could struggle to add to their tally in Seoul, ahead of the world championships in Shanghai in late March.
Uzbekistan's lone skater, Misha Ge, has only an outside chance at reaching the men's singles podium, but the prospects are a little brighter for the Koreans.
Hopes rest on the shoulders of 17-year-old Park So-Youn, the national women's singles champion who placed ninth at last year's Four Continents in her senior international debut.
Defending women's champion Kanako Murakami is missing but Satoko Miyahara, last year's runner-up, is expected to face her strongest competition from fellow Japanese Rika Hongo.
Li Zijun, the reigning Chinese champion who finished third last year, will also take to the ice, as will America's Gracie Gold, the NHK Trophy winner on the Grand Prix circuit.
Japan's Takahito Mura is seeking his second straight Four Continents title in the men's singles. Dennis Ten of Kazakhstan, the 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, is also favoured to reach the podium, after placing fourth last year.
Nam Nguyen of Canada, the 16-year-old rising star, is the 2014 world junior champion who also took the Canadian national title this year.
In the pairs, Pang Qing and Tong Jian of China have come out of their one-year retirement for the Four Continents and the worlds. The two-time world champions are seeking their sixth Four Continents title.
Sui Wenjing and Han Cong of China were the landslide winners in 2014 but they finished third at the Grand Prix Final two months ago, with Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada capturing the title. The Canadians will eye a return to the top at the Four Continents, having last won it in 2013.
Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, also from Canada, will be after their first Four Continents title in ice dance since 2010. They're also the reigning Grand Prix Final winners.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the US finished well behind the Canadians in second place at the Grand Prix Final and will seek to topple the rivals this time. Four of the top five ice dance pairings from the Grand Prix Final will be in Seoul.
Source: AFP