South Korean conglomerate Samsung Group on Monday signed on as a sponsor for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.
Samsung, which is also among the global Top Olympic Partners for the International Olympic Committee, reached an agreement worth 100 billion won ($91.9 million).
PyeongChang, an alpine town located 180 kilometers east of Seoul, will host the country's first Winter Games in 2018. Samsung Group is the sixth corporate sponsor for the PyeongChang Winter Games, joined by the likes of Korean Air, Korea's flagship carrier, and KT, the nation's top fixed-line operator.
According to the organizing committee, Samsung will supply printers and other office equipment, and cover expenses for torch relays, cultural events held on the sidelines of the competition, and the Paralympic Winter Games.
Samsung is the official Olympic partner in wireless communication equipment and computing equipment category. It became a TOP partner at the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, and last August, Samsung and the IOC extended their TOP partnership through the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games.
Other corporations under the Samsung Group umbrella, such as Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung Securities, will also offer financial support, while Cheil Industries, the conglomerate's apparel arm, will supply clothing during the Olympics.
PyeongChang has been under pressure to attract corporate sponsors, and President Park Geun-hye was prompted to urge local business leaders to step up. An organizing committee official said the latest deal with Samsung should encourage other domestic companies to follow suit.
At the signing ceremony held in Seoul, Cho Yang-ho, head of the Winter Olympics organizing committee, thanked Samsung "for reaching a meaningful decision" to help PyeongChang.
"Samsung has contributed a great deal to the Olympic Movement, and also supported PyeongChang during our bidding process," Cho said. "Samsung has been truly a part of the Olympic family."
Kwak Young-jin, the committee's secretary general, noted that PyeongChang has reached 41 percent of its sponsorship target, and that it's hoping to reach 70 percent by the year's end. (Yonhap)
