Koo Bon-hong appointed AJA Chairman

Koo Bon-hong, the new president of the Asian Journalists Association, gives a greeting after being elected by the board of directors. Chairman Koo said, “Based on my experiences inside and outside the media, I will contribute to the development of journalism with the Asian Journalists Association.” The Asian Journalists Association appointed former Prime Minister Lee Su-seong (second from left) and former chairman Lee Hyung-gyun as honorary directors on the same day.

SEOUL: The Asia Journalist Association (AJA), with its current President Ashraf Dali, has appointed Deputy Chairman Koo Bon-hong as the 6th Chairman for a period of three years.

At the same time, the AJA also had Former Prime Minister of South Korea Lee Soo-sung and Former Editor-in-Chief of Kyunghyang Daily Newspaper Lee Hyung-kyun as Honorary Chairmen.

At the meeting of the board of directors held on October 14 at the Korea Press Center, the AJA finalized the appointment of the new chairman and honorary chairmen.

Koo Bon-hong, the new AJA chairman

Chairman Koo Bon-hong was born in 1948 at Daegu, South Korea. Graduating from Kyungnam High School and Korea University with B.A. in Political Science and International Relations, he started his career as a journalist in Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) in 1974.

Over time, he served as an anchorman of the news desk and the head of the press department of the MBC.

Chairman Koo also served as a chair professor of the Korea University School of Media & Communication, the CEO of Yonhap Television News (YTN) from July 2008 to August 2009, and the CEO of Christian Television System (CTS) from May 2010 to May 2013.

Since May 2015, he has been present as a Full Time Vice Chairman of the Asia Today.

Lee Soo-sung , Honorary Chairman

Honorary Chairman Lee Soo-sung had served as the 20th President of Seoul National University, the 29^th Prime Minister of South Korea, and the first Chairman of the AJA, from 2006 to 2007.

Lee Hyung-Kvun Lee, Honorary Chairman

Honorary Chairman Lee Hyung-kyun started his career as a journalist at  Kyunghyang Daily Newspaper in 1965.

He later served as the Correspondent of New York, Editor-in-Chief, Editorial Commissioner, and Executive Director of the Korea Press Center.

AJA Former Chairmen:

First Chairman: Former Prime Minister Lee Soo-sung

Second Chairman:  Former CEO of Hankyoreh Newspaper Choi Hak-rae

Third Chairman:  Lawyer Kang Ji-won,

Fourth Chairman: CEO of the Dong-A Ilbo Newspaper Kim Hak-joon,

Fifth Chairman: Former Editor-in-Chief of Kyunghyang Daily Newspaper Lee Hyung-kyun

AJA was founded in November 2004 to report news from various Asian countries from the perspective of Asia and to promote the solidarity of Asian journalists and the development of Asian journalism.

Initially, the AJA was operated mainly by journalists from Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, including Korea, China, Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Cambodia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

Since 2008, the scope of coverage has expanded to countries in West Asia, Central Asia, and the Arab world, including India, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. Now, more than 500 member journalists from 50 countries are active, with associate members who are located in countries outside of Asia, such as America, Brazil, France, Germany and Morocco.

AJA First President: Former President of the Korea Journalists Association (KJA) Lee Sang-ki

AJA Second President: Former Chairman of the Confederation of ASEAN Journalists Ivan Lim

AJA Third (and current) President: Former Editor-in-Chief of Al-Arabi Magazine Ashraf Dali