For Korea Inc., Money and Politics Make an Awkward Olympics

For Korea Inc., Money and Politics Make an Awkward Olympics
Three leaders of Pyeongchang’s winning campaign to host the Winter Games were industrialists who had, at one point or another, been convicted of financial crimes: Mr. Lee of Samsung, Cho Yang-ho of Korean Air
and Park Yong-sung, formerly of the Doosan conglomerate.
The company’s chairman, Lee Kun-hee, is a longtime member of the International Olympic Committee
and lobbied for years behind the scenes to bring the Winter Games to South Korea.
Pyeongchang Games were that That puts the chaebol in a very sensitive position.
Last April, when members of the Pyeongchang Organizing Committee met with South Korea’s finance minister to discuss the committee’s financial troubles, its chairman said
that the bribery scandal was one reason organizers were having difficulty attracting corporate sponsorships, according to the Yonhap news agency.
The corruption allegations that ensnared Mr. Lee’s son and heir — and
that last year felled Park Geun-hye, then South Korea’s president — involved bribery via sports sponsorships.
Korean Air, whose chief executive was leading Pyeongchang’s bid committee, had signed a similar
deal with the International Skating Union, whose president was also eligible to vote.