(ATR) Organizers of the PyeongChang 2018 tell Around the Ringsthat POCOG president Yang Ho Cho’s position is not in question despite the "nut rage" scandal that led to his daughter being charged.
South Korean prosecutors on Thursday charged Cho Hyun-Ah with violating aviation security law and obstructing a government investigation following an incident last month when she flew into a rage about the way she was served macadamia nuts on a Korean Air flight from New York’s JFK Airport.
Her father’s leadership of PyeongChang 2018 has come under intense scrutiny over the past month. The chairman of Korean Air was forced to apologize for his 40-year-old daughter’s behavior in mid-December.
But POCOG denied the IOC had any cause for concern about the scandal’s impact on Cho’s role at the helm of the 2018 Olympics.
"Korean Air and POCOG are separate issues," Jihye Lee, POCOG’s new head of international media relations told ATR.
"Mr. Cho is handling POCOG business normally, and he is working harder than ever to ensure the 2018 Games’ successful preparations as a sign of his and POCOG’s credibility.
"He is receiving daily progress reports from the various functional areas and will participate in person at Friday’s executive board meeting and the upcoming IOC Project Review next week."
The IOC Coordination Commission is expected to seek clear assurances from POCOG that the scandal will not affect Olympic preparations, at its Jan 14-16 review visit. IOC inspectors will be hopeful the scandal does not damage the quest to secure sponsors for the Games. PyeongChang 2018 is well behind schedule on this front.
PR Chief Quits
ATR has learned that Minji Kang, head of POCOG’s international relations, left the organization at the end of 2014.
PyeongChang 2018 denies her departure has anything to do with the city’s trouble-hit preparations for the Games.
Jihye Lee has replaced Kang in the role.
"Minji decided to leave POCOG to take up position as head of global PR at another Korean company," said Lee, who joined POCOG in October.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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