Cho Yang-ho, chairman and CEO of South Korean conglomerate Hanjin Group and airline Korean Air, led PyeongChang’s bid for the 2018 Games and will be appointed as chief organiser at a general congress of the organising committee in the coming days.
Yang-ho is the current president of the Korea Table Tennis Association and vice president of the Asian Table Tennis Union but his appointment has been criticised by some because of his lack of experience in sports administration.
Yang-ho said in a statement: “Now that I've agreed to take on the job as the chief organizer, I will dedicate myself to ensure a successful Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, relying on my experience as the top bid official."
"Many people in and outside Korea recommended that I take this position and I also wanted to keep the promise I'd made with the International Olympic Committee to work for a successful Olympics here."
Yang-ho will come into the job at a troubled point for the Games with results from an investigation by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection into the financing and management of the Games still pending.
