Media Q&A – Korea IT Times

PR Newswire recently sat down with Yeon Chol-woong, a journalist of 13 years and a founding member of Korea IT Times, to learn more about the type of stories the publication is interested in and tips PR professionals should note when pitching the media outlet. Yeon graduated from the University of Maryland with a major in computer science. He worked at Seoul National University’s nuclear fusion laboratory as a 3D graphics designer prior to joining Korea IT Times. Yeon is currently the IT/Science team leader at Korea IT Times

Korea IT Times played a crucial role in promoting South Korea’s ICT technology and industry to the global market and introducing the world’s ICT industry to South Korea since its launch in 2004. Published in Korean and English, Korea IT Times covers the latest updates in the ICT industry, technology reviews and industry analyses.

The editorial staff comprises a group of experienced professional journalists equipped with the capability of clearly understanding the IT and science industries and skillfully expressing their expertise in those fields.

The bilingual publication has established itself as a cradle of the global IT industry through content creation and analysis; news commentaries; syndicating of news articles to 260 leading media outlets worldwide, as well as numerous renowned news portals – local and international – such as Google News and Naver News.

1. Korea IT Times recently inked a partnership with PR Newswire. What are your thoughts on that?

By partnering with PR Newswire, Korea IT Times seeks to become a leading media outlet representing the digital economy era and to facilitate global companies’ ability to take the initiative in the fourth industrial revolution, which has recently emerged as a global issue.

Through PR Newswire, I learned of the real power that moves the world. Witnessing that news from PR Newswire is being distributed in real time to every corner of the world, wherever businesses and economies exist, I realized that it is a power of the global world as well as a tool of economic prosperity.

2. Are there specific stories you usually look out for?

Firstly, the editorial focus of Korea IT Times is placed on presenting reviews of new technology and products, as well as global businesses to the global market. Secondly, Korea IT Times concentrates on raising news value by creating news articles that are novel, original, and future-oriented. Thirdly, it pursues an honest and transparent economic society by reporting analysis and commentary on business, encompassing all industries and technologies.

3. In general, what do you think of the current South Korean IT industry?

Just as GE sells software (SW) platforms and Google develops self-driving cars, South Korean companies are eager to develop ‘next-generation ICT convergence technologies and platforms where anyone can be a genius.’

South Korea has maintained its status as an IT powerhouse in the hardware sector of the IT industry such as semiconductor, shipbuilding, steel, automobile, high speed internet and mobile. But now, it is concentrating on developing convergence technologies through SW and artificial intelligence (AI) in both the new and traditional industries regardless of fields and products.

South Korea’s leading companies and research institutes are participating in the open software trend that went viral around the world and are actively involved in open data activities. Driven by these open SWs and open data, the level of SW technology in Korean companies is rapidly evolving.

In the past, Korean companies say, market players competed to roll out more technologies at a faster rate. But in the era of the fourth industrial revolution, the success or failure of a company depends on its ability to secure more partners, as well as be willing to share more new technologies to become an asset to society.

4. What should PR professionals take note of when pitching Korea IT Times?

News articles with stronger publicity are less effective. The most searched keywords by the readers of Korea IT Times for subscription include ‘the world’s first’, ‘creation’, ‘technology’, ‘investment’, ‘the fourth industrial revolution’ and ‘export.’

When it comes to highly promotional content, public relations teams would do better if they paid attention to news that is interesting and easy for the general public to understand in order to provide readers with creative and innovative.

Editor’s note: The interview was lightly edited for clarity.

Hwajin Choi is the Audience Development Executive focusing on the South Korea market at PR Newswire. If you would like to be featured, please get in touch (hwajin.choi@prnasia.com)