hankyoreh

Hankyoreh CEO Yang Sang-woo with Huffington Post Media Group chairperson Arianna Huffington and CEO Jimmy Maymann after exchanging letters of intent at the website’s offices in New York

By Park Hyun, Washington correspondent in New York

The Hankyoreh is partnering with the Huffington Post, a US website with a global audience.

The Hankyoreh’s CEO, Yang Sang-woo, exchanged letters of intent with Huffington Post Media Group chairperson Arianna Huffington on the afternoon of Nov. 7 at the website’s offices in Manhattan. The two media agreed to sign a contract by the end of the year and establish a joint Huffington Post Korea corporation, with plans to begin providing Korean-language online news services by early 2014.

The Huffington Post was launched by Huffington in 2005. In less than ten years, it has moved past the New York Times to become the US’s most-visited online news site. It boasts around 50,000 bloggers, including US President Barack Obama as well as Great Britain’s Prince Charles, US Secretary of State John Kerry, noted scholar Noam Chomsky, and film director Michael Moore. Its independent network allows it provide in-depth news coverage and information.

In addition to its coverage of major political, economic, and social issues, the site also has 44 sections following different trends and events in contemporary society, including categories for entertainment, lifestyle, science/technology, and the LGBT community.

It also focuses on investigative journalism, winning a Pulitzer Prize last year for an article on the difficulties faced by wounded veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in adjusting to society after their return.

As part of its aim of building a global network, the site has been providing global and local news services in various languages through partnerships with media companies in eight countries since 2011, including France’s Le Monde newspaper, Japan’s Asahi Shimbun, and Spain’s El Pais. It plans to expand the list to fifteen countries by next year, including Brazil, India, Turkey, and Greece as well as South Korea.

Unlike CNN, which sends foreign correspondents to major countries to provide local coverage, the Huffington Post uses its partnerships with major overseas media to provide faster and more accurate in-depth news. Huffington Post Korea would be using this global network to share South Korea-related information with countries around the world.

Huffington said it was a “blessing” to connect with the Hankyoreh, which she noted was voted South Korea’s most trusted newspaper.

She also said that with its reader participation system, the Huffington Post Korea would be a major platform for South Korean citizens to share their voices accurately.

Huffington added that she plans to speak at a conference in South Korea just before the site’s inauguration, and to attend the Hankyoreh’s Asian Future Forum in autumn of next year.

Yang said the new site would be “a window for sharing world news with South Korean citizens and South Korean news with world citizens quickly and accurately.”

“I hope the Huffington network can contribute to making a better world,” he added.

Nov. 7. (provided by the Huffington Post)

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]