Dog or tiger?

President Park Geun-hye gazes at her pet Jindo dogs at the residence in Cheong Wa Dae in September last year. She allegedly pressured Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho, who was heading the organizing committee of 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, to persuade International Olympics Committee officials to adopt a dog mascot for the games instead of the initial plan for a tiger. The alleged attempt eventually failed. / Yonhap

‘Park forces Hanjin chairman to adopt dog mascot for winter Olympics’

By Choi Ha-young

Cheong Wa Dae allegedly insisted on having a dog as the mascot for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games in contrast to the organizing committee’s initial plan for a tiger.

To push ahead with the dog plan, the presidential office allegedly sent Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Yang-ho, then serving as head of the PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games (POCOG), to persuade officials at the International Olympics Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland, along with then-Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Kim Jong-deok, according to local daily Kyunghyang Shinmun, Thursday.

The organizing committee initially planned to have a white tiger as the mascot, with a bear mascot for the Paralympics. But since summer of last year, Cheong Wa Dae pressured the committee to replace the tiger with the Jindo dog, an indigenous breed. President Park Geun-hye has been raising five Jindo dogs as pets.

But the IOC strongly opposed the dog mascot, saying it may remind people of the tradition in Korea of eating dog meat, which many animal rights groups protest. Then Park allegedly ordered Cho and Kim to persuade the IOC officials in Switzerland, and the two flew to the country on Cho’s private jet on April 7, according to the newspaper.

In order to satisfy Park’s demand, Cho had to delay an urgent meeting with Korea Development Bank (KDB), the main creditor of Hanjin Shipping.

It was a critical point for the group’s fate. Three weeks later, the KDB and other creditors approved the shipper’s restructuring plan. The company finally filed for court receivership in August.

Despite Cho’s efforts, the IOC strongly opposed the dog mascot, so Cho and Kim returned to no avail. In the end, the committee confirmed the mascots: the white tiger Soohorang and the black bear Bandabi.

In May, Cho suddenly quit the position as head of the committee. Suspicions have arisen that the failure of the dog mascot plan was one of the reasons for his resignation. It is also alleged that the President’s confidant Choi Soon-sil was working with the Swiss company Nussli, to win a bid for construction of Olympic facilities, and Cho was forced out after refusing to select the company.

Regarding such suspicions, Cho said earlier this month, “About 90 percent of the suspicions are true.”

President Park raises Jindo dogs named Peace, Unification, Geumgang, Halla and Baekdu.