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By Lee Hyo-sik
Samsung, Hyundai Motor and other large business groups remain reluctant to support the PyeongChang Olympics, as the Choi Soon-sil scandal still makes them uneasy about buying event tickets or donating merchandise.
In particular, Samsung Group and Lotte Group have been distancing themselves from the major global sporting event, as their chiefs are on trial for giving money to Choi.
She is a friend of disgraced former President Park Geun-hye, and is alleged to have used the PyeongChang Olympics to extract money from companies.
The Anti-Graft Law, which went into effect in September last year, is also said to have discouraged corporate ticket purchases.
In the past, businesses actively purchased tickets in large numbers and donated cash and merchandise to the organizing committee. But this time they are limiting their involvement to only supporting Korean athletes competing at the upcoming Winter Olympics from Feb. 9 to 25.
Without the corporate purchases, the organizing committee has only been able to sell 40 percent of its Olympic tickets.
Those for unpopular events remain largely unsold as individuals flock to popular competitions such as figure skating, speed skating and short track. The committee has to sell 1.07 million tickets for 12 stadiums.
In an attempt to draw more corporate support, the head of the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG) met recently with representatives from the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and five other business associations.
Lee Hee-beom, who heads POCOG, asked the associations to encourage their member firms to extend greater support to the Olympics.
"It is not encouraging to be able to sell only 40 percent of tickets with just three months remaining," Lee told reporters on Nov. 20. "But we expect tickets will be sold at a faster rate as we get closer to the opening. Even during the games, many unsold seats will be filled."
However, companies continue to maintain a lukewarm attitude toward being associated with the PyeongChang Olympics.
"We have encouraged companies to buy PyeongChang tickets to help make the event a success. But they are reluctant to come forward," said an official at one of the country's major business associations.
"In the past, the government used to force businesses to purchase tickets, but policymakers cannot do that now," the official said. "So it will be quite difficult for the organizing committee to fill the stands, particularly for unpopular events."
The Choi scandal still weighs heavily on large companies, he said, adding they are extremely cautious about being connected to the Olympics.
"The heads of Samsung and Lotte are currently on trial for providing money to Choi or entities set up by her, so it would be almost impossible for the committee to receive any additional support from these two conglomerates," the official said. "In addition, the Anti-Graft Law, which bans civil servants, journalists and schoolteachers from receiving gifts worth more than 50,000 won, has dampened corporate ticket purchases."
