Cho Yang-ho (; sometimes written Y. H. Cho; 8 March 1949 – 8 April 2019)Fred A. Bernstein

''The New York Times'', June 7, 2009, Accessed June 8, 2009. was a South Korean businessman who was the chairman and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

Korean Air Korean Air Co., Ltd. (), operating as Korean Air (Korean Air Lines before 1984), is the flag carrier of South Korea and its largest airline based on fleet size, international destinations and international flights. The present-day Korean Ai ...

, chairman of the Hanjin Group, and a founding member of

SkyTeam SkyTeam is one of the world's three major airline alliances. Founded in June 2000, SkyTeam was the last of the three alliances to be formed, the first two being Star Alliance and Oneworld, respectively. Its annual passenger count is 630 million ...

alliance.

Career

Born in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

, Cho received a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from

Inha University Inha University (인하대학교(仁荷大學校)) is a private research university located in Incheon, South Korea. Known traditionally for research and education in the engineering and physical sciences, the University was established by the ...

in 1975, an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...

from the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

in 1979, and a doctoral degree in business administration from

in 1988. Additionally in 1998, he received an honorary doctorate degree in aviation business administration from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

. Cho was the chairman of the Hanjin Group, a transportation conglomerate. He was named to this post in February 2003 after having served as the Group's vice chairman since 1996. He was also the Director and CEO of various subsidiary companies including Hanjin Shipping, Korea Airport Service (KAS), JungSeok Enterprise Co. and Hanjin Information Systems & Telecommunications (HIST). Cho was elected vice-chairman of The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) in 1996, and held the title of honorary consul-general to Ireland in the

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its ea ...

from 1995 until his death in 2019. He was named Chairman of the Korea-French High Level Businessmen's Club in October 2000 and also served on the Board of Governors for the

International Air Transport Association The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tar ...

(IATA) after being elected in May 2001. In addition, he became chairman of the Korea-Canada Business Council in 1993 and, from 2004 to 2019, served as Chairman of the Korea Defense Industry Association. Cho formerly sat on the

(USC) Board of

Trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to ...

s for a span beginning in 1997. In addition, he served as the chairman of the board of directors at both Inha and Hankuk Aviation University. In 2000, he was convicted of

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the tax ...

. He was appointed the head of the Pyeong Chang 2018 Bid Committee, which won the bid to host the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2018. He later served as the president and CEO of the Pyeong Chang 2018 Organizing Committee from 2014 to 2016. In May 2018, a protest rally called for Cho to step down as chairman of

. In March 2019, under the support of NPS, he was ousted from the board by shareholders amid various scandals involving him and his family members. This was the first time that a founding member of a major South Korean family was forced from the board and it is considered to have been a victory for those working to restrict the powers of the '' chaebols''.

Personal life and death

Cho was the son of , the founder of Hanjin Group and head of Korean Air. Cho was married, with a son, Cho Won-tae, and two daughters: Cho Hyeon-ah (also known as Heather Cho) and Cho Hyeon-min (also known as Emily Cho). All three children are graduates of the University of Southern California. On 8 April 2019, Cho died at a hospital in

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is th ...

, US, at the age of 70.

Awards

*April 2005:

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of ...

(highest civilian honor awarded by Mongolia to foreign citizens) *October 2005: Moran Medal of the

Order of Civil Merit The Order of Civil Merit ( es, Orden del Mérito Civil) was established by King Alfonso XIII of Spain in 1926. The order recognizes "the civic virtue of officers in the service of the Nation, as well as extraordinary service by Spanish and fore ...

(South Korea) *January 2012:

Grand Order of Mugunghwa The Grand Order of Mugunghwa ( ko, 무궁화대훈장) is the highest order awarded by the government of South Korea. It is awarded to the President of South Korea, and it may be awarded to their spouse, heads or former heads of state of South Ko ...

(South Korea) *November 2015: Grand Officier in the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(France)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cho, Yang-ho 1949 births 2019 deaths South Korean chief executives Chief executives in the airline industry Korean Air Kyungbock High School alumni Marshall School of Business alumni Recipients of the Legion of Honour Recipients of the Order of Industrial Service Merit Moran Medals of the Order of Civil Merit (Korea) Mugunghwa Medals of the Order of Civil Merit (Korea) 20th-century South Korean businesspeople 21st-century South Korean businesspeople Presidents of the Organising Committees for the Olympic Games South Korean people convicted of tax crimes