PyeongChang 2018 Organizers Deny Samsung Problems Will Affect Financing

PyeongChang 2018 insisted that recent problems at Samsung, including the five-year jail sentence awarded to its de facto head, Jay Y. Lee, "will have no impact on the finances and running of the Games," according to Nick Butler of INSIDE THE GAMES. The technology firm is a major local sponsor of next year’s event as well as a member of the IOC TOP sponsorship scheme. Lee has been the effective head of the conglomerate "due to the illness suffered by his father," Samsung Group Chair and soon-to-retire IOC member Kun-Hee Lee. He was found guilty last week of giving bribes to solicit support from ousted South Korean President Park Geun-hye and her "advisor," Choi Soon-sil. PyeongChang Organizing Committee Chair Lee Hee-beom said, "Samsung, as you are well aware is a global sponsor of IOC while, at the same time, a local sponsor of PyeongChang 2018. ... Samsung became a tier-one sponsor and this was established in 2015. There's no link between this and the recent situation" (INSIDE THE GAMES, 9/2).