Gangneung is a municipal city in Gangwon State, on the east coast of South Korea. It has a population of 213,658. Gangneung is the economic centre of the Yeongdong region of Gangwon State. It has many tourist attractions, such as Jeongdongjin, a very popular area for watching the sunrise, and Gyeongpo Beach. The city hosted all the ice events for the 2018 Winter Olympics and the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics.

Gangwon State is a Special Self-Governing Province of South Korea and the least densely populated subdivision of the country. Gangwon is one of the three provinces in South Korea with special self-governing status, the others being Jeju Province and Jeonbuk State. On the east bound by the East Sea, it borders Gyeonggi Province to its west, North Gyeongsang Province and North Chungcheong Province to its south, and the Military Demarcation Line to the north, separating it from North Korea's Kangwŏn Province. Before the division of Korea in 1945 Gangwon and Kangwŏn Provinces formed a single province.