JAK President: Journalists work hard with a warm heart and a cool mind to make truth known

JAK President Dong Hoon Kim addressing teh conference (Picture by Sang-ki Lee)

SEOUL: The President of the Journalists Association of Korea (JAK) has highlighted the commitment of journalists to the truth despite the formidable challenges posed by the spread of COVID-19 and fake news.

“Although we may have different genders, skin colors, and ideologies, we still share some commonalities. We, journalists, all work hard to make the truth known with a warm heart and a cool mind, ultimately for peace and freedom,” Dong Hoon Kim said as he opened the World Journalists Conference (WJC) 2020 in the Korean capital Seoul.

Particpants in WJC 2020 (Picture by Sang-ki Lee)

The event, now on its eighth edition, is held annually for a large number of journalists from all continents.

However, this year it is held online due to the spread of COVID-19 and the travel restrictions it has imposed.

“For the last seven years, journalists from all over the world have been invited to World Journalists Conference (WJC) to provide them with opportunities to personally experience the reality of the divided Korean Peninsula, which is now the only separated nation on Earth. Thus, this reminds journalists of the importance of peace,” he said to the participants gathered in Seoul and to those taking part virtually in the conference.

“However, as COVID-19 continues to spread globally, we inevitably had to hold the event online this year. Therefore, we regret that we cannot show you the beautiful nature and culture of South Korea and the reality of the divided nation in person.”

Ghena Halik highlighting how Lebanon deals with fake news (Picture by Sang-ki Lee)

Established in 1964, the Journalists Association of Korea is the nation’s biggest association of journalists with more than 10,000 journalists from 188 media companies as members.