How father of 'nutgate' Korean Air woman rescued Pyeongchang Winter Olympics
Cho Yang-ho has revived construction and enthusiasm for the 2018 Games, using corporate know-how to boost productivity
One year ago Olympic leaders looked with trepidation to the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, but one of South Korea's much-maligned tycoons, Cho Yang-ho, has come to the rescue.
Twelve months after taking charge of an organising committee notorious for hold-ups and infighting, the 66-year-old head of Hanjin Group has earned plaudits from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
YH Cho, as he calls himself, said someone had to become "the boss" at the Pocog - the Pyeongchang Olympics Organising Committee. Pocog has to get US$11 billion of venues built for the February 9, 2018, start of the biggest Winter Olympics ever. It has been a struggle.
The last year has really been a very good year. Things are moving on very quickly. The quality of the work has been praised by our experts and international federations
Gunilla Lindberg, the IOC watchdog for the Pyeongchang Games, recalled at an Olympic meeting in Kuala Lumpur how a year ago she had told of "delays and not so efficient progress".
"That was an understatement," said one head of a winter sports federation.
Venues were behind schedule, Pyeongchang was not signing up sponsors and provincial and central governments were arguing about financing. Organisers reportedly had to take out huge loans to pay bills and there were suggestions some events could be moved to Japan.
Pocog's last president resigned in July 2014. Cho had led Pyeongchang's bid committee but was reluctant to return because he leads an empire that includes Korean Air and the huge Hanjin Shipping line.
But since taking on the job he has shaken up builders and bureaucrats, while also battling bad publicity from his own family.
Cho had to make a public apology in December when his daughter, Cho Hyun-ah, made a Korean Air jet return to the terminal in New York to eject a flight attendant who served nuts in a packet instead of on a plate. But "nutgate" did not divert the senior Cho from his mission.
"The last year has really been a very good year," said Lindberg, "with solid progress" on venues. "Things are moving on very quickly. The quality of the work has been praised by our experts and international federations."
All construction has now started and should be finished for test events scheduled for February. Hyundai has become the latest key sponsor and Cho said he was confident that three-quarters of the target US$850 million of sponsorship would be committed by the end of the year.
In business I am the boss. I make all the decisions. At Pocog, you have to work with the province, central government, international federations and the IOC. I am still the boss. But there are more people to discuss [with]
To get international sports fans talking about Pyeongchang, Cho has signed up US skiing superstar Lindsey Vonn as an "ambassador".
Pocog is also looking to work with Beijing, which was awarded the 2022 Winter Olympics on Friday, to expand Asia's burgeoning winter sports market
"Over the past year my team and I have been working around the clock," Cho told the IOC.
"People didn't make firm decisions very fast. But I am from business and especially in the airline business you cannot wait for one month or one week. We have to make precision decisions."
So is it easier to run a business empire or organise an Olympics? "It depends who you work with," he replied.
"In business I am the boss. I make all the decisions. At Pocog, you have to work with the province, central government, international federations and the IOC. I am still the boss. But there are more people to discuss [with]."
Cho has won over a lot of Pyeongchang's critics, including International Ski Federation president Gian-Franco Kasper, who has regularly expressed fears about delays.
We are extremely confident and optimistic that Pyeongchang will be able to do it on time although there is not one minute to lose
"We are extremely confident and optimistic that Pyeongchang will be able to do it on time although there is not one minute to lose," Kasper said.
Pyeongchang still has problems: how to house thousands of volunteers who will come from around the world, making sure monsoon season mudslides do not ruin ski slopes, where to house the demanding US superstar ice hockey team.
"We are not perfect yet but we are trying very hard to make a perfect Olympic Games in 2018," said the tycoon.
