Kyobo chief to chair 2024 Youth Olympic committee

Shin Chang-jae, chairman of Kyobo Life Insurance, has been named the organizing chief for the Youth Olympic Games, a quadrennial global sports event that is to be held here in 2024, the company said Thursday in a release.

In a joint inaugural meeting held at the Seoul Press Center, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Gangwon Province agreed to appoint Shin as president of the organizing committee for the 2024 Gangwon Winter Youth Olympic Games.

“Based on the Olympic spirit of harmony, coexistence and globalization, I will work to help youths develop into ideal global citizens,” Shin said in his inaugural speech.

As chief organizer of the event, Shin will be in charge of the post until February 2024, when the competition is set to end.

Vice presidents of the committee named were: IOC member Ryu Seung-min, Korean Sport & Olympic Committee President Lee Ki-heung, Gangwon Province Gov. Choi Moon-soon and Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Yoon-hee.

Former figure skating champion Kim Yu-na and pianist Son Yeol-eum will also take part as executive committee members.

“Chairman Shin has been fully committed to sponsoring art, culture and sport activities, hoping to help young people develop into future leaders equipped with global citizenship,” the company said.

Shin’s dedication to youth training traces back to his past careers as a doctor and professor.

It is also profoundly connected to Kyobo Life’s founding philosophy of “promoting national education.” The company name “Kyobo” is an abbreviation for “educational insurance” in Korean.

In such a context, Shin has been hosting the Kyobo Life Youth Athletics Competition every year since 1985. The event, which is the only private sport competition of its kind here, is also seen as contributing to the expansion of ice sports such as figure skating and short track speedskating.

In January this year, the International Olympic Committee picked Korea as the host country of the fourth edition of the quadrennial youth competition.

The 2024 Gangwon games will run from Jan. 19 to Feb. 4 in PyeongChang, Gangneung, Jeongseon and various other locations in Gangwon Province -- where the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games were held.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)