Seoul: The newly elected head of the national skiing governing body will lead the South Korean delegation to the upcoming Asian Winter Games. The Korean Sport and Olympic Committee (KSOC) announced Tuesday that Choi Hong-hoon will serve as South Korea's chef de mission for the Feb. 7-14 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Choi was named head of the Korea Ski Snowboard Association earlier Tuesday. Choi, 62, has previously worked as CEO of Lotte World. Lotte Group, one of South Korea's biggest conglomerates, has been running the skiing federation for over a decade, with its chairman, Shin Dong-bin, having been in charge from 2014 to 2018.
The KSOC will host the team launch ceremony for the Asian Winter Games on Friday. It will be the ninth edition of the regional competition, and the first since the Japanese city of Sapporo hosted it in 2017. South Korea will send some 200 athletes in all six sports. South Korea finished second overall to Japan with its Asian Winter Games record of 16 gold medals in 2017.