Asia-Pacific news agencies to hold summit in Seoul in April

By Tony Chang
SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) -- Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's key news agency, said
Monday that it plans to host a summit of chief executives of 40 news agencies in
the Asia-Pacific region in Seoul in April, seeking to broaden multilateral
cooperation in the face of a rapidly changing global media environment.
The CEO summit of the members of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies
(OANA), prepared as part of Yonhap's 30th anniversary celebrations, will take
place at Seoul's Lotte Hotel April 21-24 under the theme of "Challenges and
opportunity for news agencies," the company said.
Representatives from four other associations of news agencies outside
Asia-Pacific will also attend the Seoul meeting, formally titled "OANA Summit
Congress," as an observer, it noted.
Yonhap News Agency President & CEO Park Jung-chan, announcing the OANA summit
plan in his New Year's address on Monday, said that he and his fellow CEOs of
Asia-Pacific news agencies will map out joint future strategies at the Seoul
meeting.
"Yonhap is set to embark on a new paradigm, marking its 30th founding anniversary
this year. On such a meaningful occasion, CEOs of 40 OANA members and
representatives from the world's four other regional groups of news agencies will
meet in Seoul in April to explore ways to jointly cope with the rapidly changing
media landscape," Park said in the address made at the company headquarters in
Seoul.
"Yonhap will also take the OANA meeting as an opportunity to promote the G-20
summit scheduled for November in Seoul among the regional news agencies. In
addition, Yonhap aims to heighten its status as a rapidly growing global media
company among the world's leading news agencies," said Park.
Park noted that the participants in OANA Summit Congress will be given
opportunities to tour South Korea's major industrial and tourist sites following
official discussion programs at the Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul.
On the sidelines of the OANA summit, Yonhap will also display a collection of
photos taken by the member companies over the past decade in the lobby of the
Lotte Hotel.
OANA was formed in 1961 on the initiative of UNESCO to secure direct and free
exchange of news between the news agencies of a region inhabited by more than
half of the world's population. At present, OANA brings together 40 news agencies
from 33 countries.
North Korea's Korean Central News Agency, a member of OANA, is expected to
participate in the Seoul summit, paving the ground for new round of inter-Korean
media cooperation.
Other participants will include Xinhua News Agency from China, Japan's Kyodo
News, the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (Itar-Tass), the Australian
Associated Press and Indonesia's Antara News.
Chair companies from the Federation of Arab News Agencies, the European Alliance
of Press Agencies, the Association of Balkan News Agencies and the Alliance of
Mediterranean News Agencies will attend the Seoul meeting as observers.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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