[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] The prominent American daily newspaper The New York Times (NYT) is relocating part of its Hong Kong office to Seoul. This decision comes as China’s implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law (Hong Kong Security Law) has increased uncertainty, prompting the shift of digital operations to South Korea.
On the 14th (local time), NYT announced plans to move its digital news staff, who have been based in Hong Kong, to South Korea next year. The digital news staff make up one-third of the NYT Hong Kong bureau employees and have functioned as an outpost overseeing online news produced by the NYT headquarters in New York and London.
Even after relocating the digital news staff, NYT plans to maintain reporting personnel at the Hong Kong office, and the 'NYT International' print team along with the advertising and marketing teams will also remain.
In a message shared internally, NYT editors and executives explained, "China’s comprehensive Hong Kong Security Law has created uncertainty regarding what it means for office operations and journalism." They added, "We thought it was reasonable to prepare contingency plans and begin diversifying editorial staff across the globe." NYT also stated that it intends to use the Hong Kong office as a "gateway to China" and plans to bolster reporting staff to cover the transformations Hong Kong will undergo in the future.
Hong Kong has long served as the Asian headquarters for English-language media companies due to its openness to foreign businesses and proximity to mainland China. However, since the enactment of the Hong Kong Security Law, NYT reported that unprecedented issues have arisen, such as difficulties in obtaining work permits that were not experienced before in Hong Kong.
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