Hong Seok-hyun

Hong Seok-hyun (born 1949) is a noted figure in South Korean media industry. He is the chairman of JMnet(JoongAng Media Network) and JoongAng Ilbo, one of the major Korean daily newspapers with the circulation of 1,300,000 copies(as of 2011).

In 1994 he became the president and publisher of JoongAng Ilbo. Since then, he has led major innovations in Korean newspaper industry, and completed comprehensive and all-round media portfolio with 25 different media organizations.

As being recognized by a wide range of global network and partnership of the company, he served as the president of the World Association of Newspapers from 2002 to 2004, and was the first person from Asia to hold the post. He was the president of the Korea Association of Newspapers from 2003 to 2005. He has been active in public service as well. From late 70s to early 80s, he worked in the World Bank and Korean government service. Also, he served as the ambassador to the United States from February 2005 until his resignation in September 2005.

Hong graduated from Kyunggi High School in 1968. He received a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Seoul National University (Korea) in 1972, and a master’s in industrial engineering from Stanford University (USA) in 1978. He went on to acquire a Ph. D in economics from Stanford University (USA) in 1980.