Cho named as new head of Pyeongchang 2018 organizers

By Narae Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean businessman Cho Yang-ho, who led Pyeongchang's successful bid for the Winter Olympics, has been named as the new president of the organizing committee for the 2018 Games. "I have decided to take up this position to keep the promise I made with the International Olympic Committee to host a successful Olympic Games," Cho said in a statement. Cho replaces Kim Jin-sun, who abruptly resigned as president of the committee (POCOG) last week in the middle of a review by the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI). An official at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism denied the BAI review was the reason behind Kim Jin-sun's resignation, which followed the exit of the vice president and secretary general of the committee, Moon Dong-hoo, who quit earlier this month. Cho had initially said he would not take up the role as he was too busy with his work running the Hanjin Group conglomerate, which includes Korean Air. "Since it was a tough decision, I will best utilize my experience as the head of the bidding committee and devote myself to making the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics Games successful," said Cho. (Writing by Nick Mulvenney,; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)