World Journalists Conference 2021 on April 19-20

JAK President Dong Hoon Kim addressing the 2020 conference (Picture by Sang-ki Lee)

SEOUL: The Journalists Association of Korea (JAK), the largest organization of professional journalists in Korea with a current membership of over 10,000 individual journalists, will hold its World Journalists Conference 2021 (WJC 2021) on April 19-20.

Sang-ki Lee, a former president of JAK and of the Asian Journalists Association (AJA) and publisher of Asia N told an AJA virtual meeting they were looking forward to another successful and beneficial global conference for the media, particularly as the world is going through drastic changes caused by the global pandemic.

The World Journalists Conference is an annual event that brings together journalists and media experts from across the world to discuss the role of the media in contributing to the development of journalism and maintaining peace both in Korea and the world.

The event also provides a networking platform for journalists from all continents, building a massive and crucial network for the media in a fast-changing world.

Since its launch in 2013, this year’s event is the ninth World Journalists Conference. The Journalists Association of Korea (JAK), established in 1964, has members from hundreds of media companies working for the nation’s newspaper companies, broadcasting services, Internet news, and news agencies.

In 2020, the conference, postponed to September, was a mixture of in-person attendance and virtual participation following the heavy restrictions on travel imposed by COVID-19.

The conference addressed fake news in different countries and the measures taken counter them and ensure a brighter future for genuine journalism and reliable media.

It also covered global responses to COVID-19 and disease control methods, identifying the roles that the media can assume in helping put an end to the pandemic across the world.

The third session was devoted to discussing the 70th anniversary of the Korean War and peace policy in the Korean Peninsula.