Yonhap, BERNAMA agree to exchange photos, videos

SEOUL, Nov. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and Malaysia's leading news agencies agreed Monday to expand their news exchange to include not just texts but also photos and videos. Yonhap News Agency CEO Park No-hwang and BERNAMA General Manager Datuk Zulkefli Salleh signed the agreement at the Yonhap headquarters in Seoul as the two were attending the 39th Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) Executive Board Meeting hosted by the South Korean news agency. The two organizations had previously agreed to provide only the English articles for free, but the agreement would broaden free content to photos and videos. A similar agreement with Azerbaijan's AZERTAC news agency was to be signed on Wednesday, Park said. Park met with other leaders of OANA members, including Kyodo News Agency President Masaki Fukuyama, later this day. He said he expects to further collaborate with Kyodo News, especially since the two agencies will be the primary news providers for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, respectively. Yonhap currently has exchange agreements with 83 news agencies in 80 countries. The OANA Executive Board Meeting kicked off Monday for a two-day run, with more than 20 representatives from both OANA members and observer news agencies expected to discuss ways to boost cooperation. sojungpark@yna.co.kr (END)