Published : Jan. 29, 2013 - 19:28
Hanjin Group chairman Cho Yang-ho was reelected president of the Korea Table Tennis Association on Jan. 24.
After unanimous approval from the 19 delegates, Cho’s new term will last until the end of 2016. It was the first time in 18 years that the vote had been unanimous. Sports insiders said his care for players and coaches may have affected the votes.
For example, Hyun Jung-hwa, a former Olympic gold medalist and current head coach of the national women’s team, has studied English for more than five hours every day from Monday to Friday at the University of Southern California since August last year.
Cho Yang-ho (center) looks on during a training session for the national table tennis team. (Hanjin Group)
It is thanks to Cho that she practices English in the U.S.
Hyun was elected to the media committee of the International Table Tennis Federation two years ago and has since dreamed of becoming an international administration official in the sport. She found it essential to speak fluent English to do so. She also had a hard time communicating with foreign officials in international competitions.
After learning of her dream, Cho, who sits on the board of the USC foundation, wrote a letter to its president, requesting an English language course that would help her become a sports leader. The new KTTA president plans to support her study abroad further after the language training, if she wishes.
He came to support her study out of a belief that Korea needs to produce international sports administrators with a good command of English, officials said.
Cho also showed his scrupulous care for a recently retired player.
When Kim Kyoung-ah, a veteran female player important to the Korean team, was considering retirement after the 2008 Beijing Olympics to have a baby, Cho persuaded her to set aside her family plan and compete in the 2012 Olympic Games for the last time. Kim postponed her plans to have a baby, concentrated on training and played for Korea in the London Olympics. After the Olympics, she retired as planned and then joined a course to become a coach.
Cho arranged for the association to give her time to start a family first and then resume the course.
Cho’s love for sports is not limited to table tennis.
He looked after Korean athletes in and out of competition venues for all 17 days of the 2012 London Olympic Games.
As president of the Korean bidding committee for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, he applied the acumen he accumulated from running a global logistics business in winning the bid, Hanjin officials said.
By Chun Sung-woo (
swchun@heraldcorp.com)