South Korean President Park Asks Firms To Sponsor PyeongChang Winter Olympics

South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday "asked South Korea's top business leaders to actively sponsor the country's first-ever Winter Olympics to be held in 2018 as part of efforts to stage a successful competition," according to YONHAP. In a meeting with about two dozen leaders, including Samsung Electronics Co. Vice Chair Lee Jae-yong, and Hyundai Motor Group Vice Chair Chung Eui-son, Park said, "We urgently need the interest and assistance of the business community for a successful PyeongChang Winter Olympics." So far, four South Korean companies, including fixed-line operator and No. 2 mobile carrier KT, "have pledged to sponsor" 254.9B won ($229M) to the PyeongChang organizing committee. The committee said that "it has been in talks with other local companies to recruit more corporate sponsorship" to secure an additional 595B won ($535M). An official of the PyeongChang organizing committee said, "They know they have no choice but to sponsor" the Winter Olympics (YONHAP, 2/24).