Samsung to sponsor 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) Organizers of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang signed a corporate sponsorship deal worth 100 billion won ($92 million) with Samsung Group on Monday.

The signing comes as games organizers are struggling to find companies to join their domestic sponsorship program, a key source of revenue for the games. Earlier this year, South Korean President Park Geun-hye made an appeal to local businesses to sponsor the games.

Organizing committee chief Cho Yang-ho was quoted as saying in a statement that he's confident Samsung's sponsorship agreement will encourage other South Korean firms to join as sponsors for the games.

''We've got a fresh strength.... It's certain the games would be successfully hosted,'' Cho said during the sponsorship signing ceremony in Seoul.

The statement said the committee has now signed six domestic sponsorship programs and achieved 41 percent of its sponsorship target.

The six companies include Korean Air, South Korea's largest airline. Cho is chairman of Korean Air.