Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho offered to resign 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 in a statement released by the organizing committee, 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 which is 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.
"Everyone in the organizing committee has worked hard as a team to ensure a successful PyeongChang Winter Olympics," Cho said. "I'd like to thank the people and the government for taking a great interest in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and also express my gratitude for the International Olympic Committee and the Korean Olympic Committee, among other relevant organizations."
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 Alpine Skiing World Cup in Jeongseon, Gangwon Province, in February, and drew rave reviews from the 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. (Yonhap)
