Yeo Hyeong-gu appointed sec-general of PyeongChang 2018

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) Yeo Hyeong-gu was appointed secretary-general of the organizing committee for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and went straight to work Monday at a staff meeting in Seoul.

He will oversee preparation of competition venues, the venue for opening and closing ceremonies and Olympic villages, and also be responsible for areas including marketing, accommodation, transport and promotion.

''I feel a greater responsibility than joy for the honor since there is a lot of work to be done,'' said Yeo, noting there are only three months until the first test events and two years until the games begin.

A long-time bureaucrat, Yeo was most recently a vice minister in South Korea's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The International Olympic Committee in September pressed South Korean organizers to make sure venues were completed in time for crucial test events.

''The competition sites remain on schedule for the games but the organizers need to maintain their focus, as some delivery dates are very close to the start of the test events,'' IOC coordination commission chair Gunilla Lindberg said.

Test events in Alpine skiing, freestyle skiing and snowboarding are scheduled to be held from February.

The pace of preparations has picked up since Cho Yang-ho took over as head of POCOG last year after the sudden resignation of the previous president, Kim Jin-sun.