Losing Chairmanship
Cho Yang-ho, the chairperson of the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) announced his stepping-down from the current position to be effective immediatelyon May 3.
Cho, who is also the chairman of the Hanjin Group, made the decision as its shipping affiliate Hanjin Shipping, which faces critical financial dificulties, is subject to the restructuring enforced by creditors and needs an urgent management stabilization.
Cho took up the position of POCOG in August 2014, and has become recognized for putting the Organizing Committee back on track by managing critical issues such as the delayed venue construction, disputes over the location of Olympic Stadium, marketing sponsorship recruitment. In February this year, he led the successful hosting of the FIS Alpine World Cup at the new Jeongseon Alpine Center, overcoming many doubts raised during the first official test event.
“For the past two years, I have truly put my best efforts to working with every member of the Organizing Committee to prepare a successful Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2018,” said Cho, adding, “I can proudly say that POCOG has become a strong team and overcome the challenges, which allowed us to achieve a great success in our first official test event early this year."
Delivering his sincere appreciation to employees of POCOG and related organizations at home and abroad such as the government, Gangwon Province, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Cho concluded, "I am confident that POCOG and the new leadership will move towards a successful 2018 Winter Games. I will continue to support PyeongChang Olympics through to the Games in 2018.”