Yonhap News Agency (, literally "federation" or "united") is a major news agency in South Korea. It is based in Seoul, South Korea. Yonhap provides news articles, pictures, and other information to newspapers, TV networks and other media in South Korea.
History
Yonhap was established on 19 December 1980, through the merger of Hapdong News Agency and Orient Press. It is the only Korean wire service that works with foreign news agencies, and provides a limited but freely-available selection of news on its website in Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Arabic, and French.
Yonhap is South Korea's only news agency large enough to have some 60 correspondents abroad and 600 reporters across the nation.
In 2003, the South Korean government passed a law giving financial and systematic assistance to the agency, to reinforce staff and provide equipment. though the agency does criticise the government.
Journalists
thumb|Plaque at foot of Yonhap Journalist statue, 2014
Yonhap employs about 600 reporters. It has some 60 correspondents in 26 countries.
The Cho Gye-chang award
The Korean Journalist Association in 2010 established the Cho Gye-chang Journalism Award for achievement in international news reporting to commemorate Cho Gye-chang, the former Yonhap correspondent in Shenyang, China. Cho was killed in a car crash in December 2008 on the way back, after having conducted an interview with a Korean-Chinese academic. He was assigned to Shenyang in 2006 as the first South Korean correspondent in the northern Chinese city. Cho was widely admired as an ardent news writer who focused on North Korean affairs and Korean-Chinese communities. On the first anniversary of his demise, Korean-Chinese organizations and local journalists paid tribute to him as a "truly hardworking reporter with great professionalism". Cho's death marked the first time that Yonhap had lost a reporter on an international assignment.
Global network
Yonhap News has more than 60 journalists in 33 areas in 25 countries.
Asia-Pacific
- Greater China: Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Hong Kong, Taipei
- Japan: Tokyo, Osaka
- Vietnam: Hanoi
- Thailand: Bangkok
- India: New Delhi
- Indonesia: Jakarta
- Australia: Sydney
- New Zealand: Auckland
Europe
- United Kingdom: London
- France: Paris
- Germany: Berlin
- Switzerland: Geneva
- Russia: Moscow
- Belgium: Brussels
Americas
- United States: New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco
- Canada: Vancouver
- Brazil: São Paulo
- Mexico: Mexico City
Middle East
- Turkey: Istanbul
- United Arab Emirates: Dubai
Africa
- Egypt: Cairo
- Kenya: Nairobi
- South Africa: Johannesburg
See also
- Communications in South Korea
- Korean Central News Agency, North Korean equivalent
- Media of South Korea
- Yonhap News TV