North Korean journalists union holds conference for 1st time in 22 years

ANKARA

North Korean journalists gathered in the capital Pyongyang this week for the first time in 22 years for a two-day conference, media reports said on Wednesday.

The Journalists Union of Korea (JUK) conference was held for the first time since the country's current leader Kim Jong-un took power in 2011, as it had previously been held in 2001, the South Korean Yonhap News Agency reported.

North Korean state media also confirmed the conference, reporting that the 9th Congress of the JUK was held in the capital on April 3 and 4, with participants also accepting the ruling party's policies and stance and adopting a letter of a pledge to Kim Jong-un.

Officials from the ruling party also attended the congress as observers.

During the gathering, participants comprehensively and deeply reviewed the union's work and underscored the need to steadily improve the contents and forms of articles and editions in keeping with the intensified revolution in order to turn the country’s media into an ideological weapon for inspiring all people to strenuously perform feats, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said in its report.

"They also seriously analyzed the reasons why they failed to keep abreast of the changing reality in their mode of thinking and creation, and referred to the measures to be taken to tackle them immediately," the news agency said.

The forum also elected Pak Tong Sok and Ryom Chol Ho as chairman and vice-chairman of the JUK Central Committee, respectively.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid