OANA executive board meeting to open in Hanoi this week

HANOI, April 18 (Yonhap) -- The Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) is set to open its three-day executive board meeting in Hanoi this week to discuss challenges facing member agencies in the digital era and ways to enhance efficiency of news production, organizers said Thursday. The 44th board meeting of OANA, to be held from Friday, will bring together delegates from 13 OANA Executive Board members and six general members. The 19 includes Azerbaijan's Azertac, which serves as the OANA chair, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, which will take over the OANA chairmanship this year. Also among them are Iran's IRNA, China's Xinhua News Agency, Russia's Itar-Tass News Agency, Japan's Kyodo News, Press Trust of India, Australian Associated Press, Vietnam News Agency, Turkey's Anadolu Agency, Malaysia's Bernama, Indonesia's Antara, Mongolia's Montsame, Kazakhstan's Kazinform, Bahrain News Agency, the United Arab Emirates' WAM, Laos' KPL, Cambodia's AKP and Iran's MEHR. Yonhap News chief Cho Sung-boo and its senior journalist Lee Dong-min, who has been tapped as the next secretary general of OANA, will take part in the board meeting. Cho is scheduled to brief the meeting on Yonhap's preparations for the upcoming OANA general assembly in Seoul that will run from Nov. 6-9 and give a presentation on Yonhap's efforts to stem the spread of fake news and share its measures to help news outlets and the public to conduct fact-checking. Yonhap was chosen to replace Azertac as the next chair of OANA in November 2016 when the 16th OANA general assembly was held in Baku, Azerbaijan. Yonhap will lead the group of Asia-Pacific news agencies for three years following the Seoul general assembly. OANA, comprising 44 news agencies in the region, was created in 1961 for the cooperation and free exchange of information among members. On Thursday, Yonhap will hold a ceremony in Hanoi to launch an office for the operation of the news organization's Southeast Asia General Bureau, which will cover not only the Association of Southeast Asian Nations but also Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the Oceania region. Yonhap's former Hanoi correspondent, Kim Sun-han, will take the helm of the general bureau. namsh@yna.co.kr (END)