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NPR to open Seoul bureau next year

October 31, 2014

U.S. public radio network NPR will establish a bureau in Seoul and launch it next year, the station announced this week.

“We are delighted to announce the opening of a bureau in Seoul,” Christopher Turpin, NPR’s acting senior vice president of news, said. ”This continues the tradition of NPR’s international coverage that goes beyond the headlines to bring strong voices and well told stories to our listeners at home, providing the necessary context to understand how world events affect our daily lives.”

(AP)

Elise Hu was appointed as the Seoul bureau chief, and will oversee multiple countries in northeast Asia, including Japan.

“Hu, who covers the intersection of technology and culture for NPR’s on-air, online and multimedia platforms, will take on a new role as NPR’s Seoul reporter,” the station said.

NPR is a non-profit membership media organization network that produces and distributes news and cultural programming to various radio platforms nationwide in the U.S.

Hu expressed her excitement for the job, mentioning a recent “daydreaming contest” held in Gwanghuamun, central Seoul.

“We’re planting the NPR flag on an action-packed peninsula!” she wrote on her blog. “Can you imagine the culture stories? This is the place where they just hosted a competition to see who could zone out the longest. That is gold.”