Yonhap signs on as official news agency of Asian Games

SEOUL, July 21 (Yonhap) -- Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's key newswire, has become the official news service of this year's Asian Games to be held in Incheon. Song Hyun-seung, president of Yonhap, and Kim Young-soo, head of the organizing committee of the Asiad, reached their agreement on Monday. Under the deal, Yonhap, as the host news agency, will provide real-time, in-depth coverage of the continental multisport competition to be held from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4 in the metropolitan city just west of Seoul. Yonhap will also publish the official English-language newspaper of the Asian Games. Yonhap's articles will be published online in seven languages, including Korean and English, and photos and graphics of the event will also be available. With the agreement, the Asian Games organizing committee will have access to Yonhap's news content during the competition, and will help the news agency carry out its responsibilities as the official news service. Yonhap boasts a pool of nearly 600 reporters, producing content for newspapers, broadcasters, Internet portals and the government and private enterprises. It also has a network of 62 correspondents in 46 major cities in 35 nations. Yonhap has previously served as the host news agency at such international events as the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the 2010 G-20 Summit and the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit. "We've reached this agreement to ensure a successful staging of the Incheon Asian Games," Kim said. "Building a cooperative partnership with Yonhap News should go a long way toward promoting this competition." jeeho@yna.co.kr (END)