PyeongChang to form joint working group with IOC to speed up Olympic prep

The South Korean organizers of the 2018 Winter Games said Sunday they will form a joint task force with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to "expedite" their decision-making process.

In a statement, the organizing committee for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics said the agreement was reached during the IOC Executive Board meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Friday, local time. The joint body will be called the "Integration Working Group."

According to the committee, the joint working group will be made up of representatives from the PyeongChang committee, the IOC, international federations for winter sports, the South Korean government and Gangwon Province, where PyeongChang is situated.

The committee said the Integration Working Group will be launched before the next IOC Coordination Commission visit to PyeongChang from March 17 to 19, and will hold regular meetings at least once a month to discuss pending issues.

"(The organizing committee) expects the Integration Working Group will enhance communication with the IOC and accelerate its preparations for the 2018 Winter Games by speeding up decision-making and improving work efficiency," the organizers' statement read.

With about three years to go until the first Winter Olympics in South Korea, PyeongChang has been on the hot seat for construction delays and lack of corporate sponsorships. Gunilla Lindberg, head of the IOC Coordination Commission for PyeongChang, told The Associated Press: "We still have three years to go, but we lost a lot of time for the first three years. We can't lose any more time."

The host's lackluster preparations prompted speculation that the IOC was urging PyeongChang to halt construction of a new sliding venue and to move the bobsleigh and luge competitions to an existing venue in another country. PyeongChang organizers have said they will maintain their current venue plan, and they have also shot down talk of splitting events with North Korea.

Cho Yang-ho, head of the organizing committee, has tried to dispel the IOC's concerns and has insisted PyeongChang is on time to deliver a successful Olympics. (Yonhap)