The chief organizer for the 2018 Winter Olympics said Tuesday that "there is no room for corruption in the country's first-ever Winter Games," according to Baek Byung-yeul of the KOREA TIMES. PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympics (POCOG) President Lee Hee-beom said that the Games "might have been a target for corruption by Choi Soon-sil, President Park Geun-hye's longtime friend, but there was no fraud in any contracts related to the Olympics." Lee said, "I know there have been reports indicating Choi attempted to pocket profits in various deals related to the PyeongChang Olympics. I admit that the Winter Games have been the target for such corruption but I can clearly say that no such attempts actually materialized." Korea's sports scene has been "suffering the consequences of the Choi scandal starting from last October as she allegedly influenced state affairs." Lee said that he is "fully aware that the 2018 Games is lesser known than previous Olympics." But starting from the one-year countdown event, which falls on Feb. 9, the organizing committee "will boost its efforts to promote the Winter Olympics around the world." Lee: "I know that we are criticized for little public awareness of the 2018 Winter Olympics. I expect the one-year countdown event will add momentum to boost public awareness worldwide." Speaking on POCOG's budget plan, Lee said that he secured 841B won ($714M) "in corporate sponsorships last year" (KOREA TIMES, 1/17).