SEOUL HAPPY TO HOLD MAJOR WORLD EVENTS

From Ahmad Zukiman Zain

SEOUL, April 22 (Bernama) -- South Korea, already elated with the task of
holding two major world events, hailed the meeting of Asia-Pacific news agencies
which began here Thursday.

South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yu Myung-hwan said the
four-day Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) Congress Summit would
provide publicity for the country.

"This meeting will make (South) Korea known to others," he told Bernama
after hosting a luncheon for the OANA delegates at Lotte Hotel, the conference
venue.

He said his country was going all out to promote cooperation among Asian
countries through its new Asia initiative.

"We're holding forums regularly to identify and develop joint projects," he
said.

He said the Group of 20 (G20) Summit this year and the 2012 Nuclear
Security Summit were two most important world events to be held in the republic.

"We're very much elated," he said.

The OANA Summit Congress is hosted by South Korea's Yonhap News Agency to
commemorate its 30th anniversary.

With the theme, 'Challenges and Opportunities for News Agencies', the
meeting is aimed at broadening cooperation among the 40-member OANA in the face
of a rapidly changing global media environment.

Yonhap News Agency president and publisher Park Jung-chan said Asia-Pacific
news agencies were determined to widen multilateral cooperation and multimedia
content exchanges in anticipation of the advent of the "Asian century".

"Asia is home to a majority of the world's population. It is the world's
largest market and has the world's highest growth potential," he said in his
welcoming address.

"Unilateral moves by one or two countries in the region will not bring about
this new Asia," he said.

"It will only emerge when the region as a whole embraces the values of
co-existence and win-win cooperation."

Park also stressed that a new direction was necessary to ensure the
continued survival and success of Asia's news wire agencies.

"Wire services' traditional markets are shrinking, while outdated revenue
models are no longer viable, amid the explosion of new media.

"We are here to address the rapid changes that have swept across the global
media industry, brought about in no small part by the digital revolution," he
said.
-- BERNAMA