Cho Yang-ho (Korean: 조양호; sometimes written Y. H. Cho; 8 March 1949 – 8 April 2019) was a South Korean businessman who was the chairman and chief executive officer of Korean Air and chairman of the Hanjin Group.
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Career
Born in Seoul, Cho received a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Inha University in 1975, an MBA from the University of Southern California in 1979, and a doctoral degree in business administration from Inha University in 1988. Additionally in 1998, he received an honorary doctorate degree in aviation business administration from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Florida.
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 South Korea 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 (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 University of Southern California (USC) Board of Trustees 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.