IRNA, YONHAP to broaden professional cooperation

IRNA Managing Director Mohammad Ja'far Behdad met on Saturday with Managing Director and Head of the Business and International Affairs of YONHAP News Agency of South Korea Kim-Chang-Hoe on expansion of news cooperation between the two news agencies.

At the meeting, the two sides singed a new memorandum of understanding (MoU) on expansion of professional media cooperation.

The MoU called for increasing the current level of mutual cooperation on multimedia, photo reports and exchange of expert delegates between the two news agencies.

The IRNA head expressed satisfaction over the increase in the current level of mutual professional cooperation between the two sides and persuaded the Korean side to make use of IRNA’s website regarding the coverage of news and reports on Iran as well as regional developments.

The Islamic Republic of Iran and South Korea play significant roles at international arenas; Behdad said and expressed the hope that media cooperation between the two countries would be in line with the expansion of political relations between the two countries.

Given the 30 years of friendly relations between the two news agencies, he voiced IRNA’s readiness to help YONHAP to open its office in Tehran and also help the news agency fully cover news pertaining to the Central Asian region.

Kim-Chang-Hoe, for his part, expressed satisfaction over the signing of the MoU with IRNA and said YONHAP eagers to broaden professional cooperation with IRNA.

YONHAP is to launch a TV network in the future and is to seek IRNA’s assistance in this regard, he said.

The high level of cooperation between the two prestigious news agencies and their deep-rooted ties and cooperation could be regarded as an exemplary model for expansion of media cooperation in Asia under a regional pact, Kim pointed out.

Kim-Chang-Hoe has come to Iran to attend the executive committee of OANA (Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies) in Tehran.

During OANA's 47 years record of activities, IRNA has been designated once as the rotating chairman of OANA for a three-year period and is now acting as the vice president and member of the executive committee of the regional organization.

End