Chief organizer for 2018 PyeongChang Olympics resigns

Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho attends a government meeting on the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics on April 29, 2016, in his former capacity as the head of PyeongChang’s Olympic organizing committee. (Yonhap)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho resigned as the chief organizer of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Tuesday, citing the need to tend to his corporate responsibilities.

Cho announced his resignation, effective immediately, in a statement released by the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG), which will lose its leader with less than two years left until the first Winter Games in South Korea.

The committee explained that Cho wanted to handle “urgent matters” within his business group, including rescuing Hanjin Shipping, the nation’s biggest container carrier struggling to cope with heavy operating losses.

Cho took over the PyeongChang committee in August 2014 and was nearing the end of his two-year term.

“For the past two years, I have truly put forward my very best efforts to work with every member of the organizing committee to prepare a successful Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2018,” Cho was quoted as saying in the committee’s English-language statement. “I can proudly say that POCOG has become a strong team, and the challenges we have overcome have allowed us to achieve success at our first official test events this past February.”

Cho is credited with speeding up construction of Olympic facilities and also with defusing controversy over sharing the Olympics with Japan and the potential relocation of the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies.

Under Cho’s watch, the organizing committee hosted the first Olympic test event, the International Ski Federation (FIS) Alpine Skiing World Cup in Jeongseon, Gangwon Province, in February, and drew rave reviews from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and FIS officials.

Cho had served as head of PyeongChang’s Olympic bidding committee in 2011, when the resort town defeated Munich of Germany and Annecy of France in an IOC vote.

“More than anything else, I am deeply grateful for the passion and dedication of each and every employee of POCOG under my leadership,” Cho said. “I am confident that POCOG and the new leadership will move forward towards a successful 2018 Winter Games. I give my assurances that I will continue to support PyeongChang through to the Games in 2018.”