[Power K-Women] A Newsletter Viewing the World Without Prejudice... 500,000 MZ Subscribers

Kim So-yeon, CEO of Newneek
Easy and fun newsletter service for MZ generation since 2018
Mobile app service launched this year
Strives to maintain an unbiased perspective
Produces content based on reader feedback
Incorporates value-neutral terms on gender issues and more

Editor's NoteAsia Economy selected 40 women from various fields at home and abroad as ‘Power K-Women’ at the ‘2022 Women Leaders Forum’ held on October 19. These are women leaders who, despite facing all kinds of barriers and boundaries such as gender, race, disability, and poverty, did not yield to them but broke or transcended these boundaries to create new and universal values. Their stories will provide comfort to a weary world, serve as role models for someone, and give the community the strength to move forward again.

[Asia Economy Reporter So-yeon Park] ‘Kindly and Bravely’

‘Kindly and bravely’ is the brand value pursued by ‘NEWNEEK,’ a media content company that delivers world news easily and entertainingly to busy MZ generation. Starting with a newsletter service in 2018, NEWNEEK has already become a 5-year-old company and expanded its stage to mobile services through an application (app) since early this year. NEWNEEK, which began with 200 readers, now has 500,000 subscribers called ‘Newneekers.’

Kim So-yeon, CEO of NEWNEEK, recently told Asia Economy, "I hope that people who live only within themselves, overwhelmed by the busy world, can enjoyably see the world through the news and knowledge content provided by NEWNEEK and further communicate and connect with others." NEWNEEK is a content playground for the MZ generation who are too tired to have time to watch the news and find the content provided by existing media difficult. It is also a space for self-development. Connecting people kindly is NEWNEEK’s value and the driving force behind CEO Kim So-yeon. She created NEWNEEK based on her experience subscribing to a newsletter service called theSkimm during a short internship in Washington, USA, in 2017. Because it explains and delivers major issues in a friendly and easy way as if talking with a friend, anyone can easily access NEWNEEK.

CEO Kim said, "When people learn about what is happening in the world and develop interest and curiosity, they seek deeper knowledge." She added, "Newneekers connect newly by talking with each other and ultimately feel like stepping out into the world." Newneekers read world news through NEWNEEK and interact by asking and answering questions in the community. A space for pros and cons debates was also created within the NEWNEEK app. CEO Kim said, "At first, we only provided content in one direction, but recently, there has been an expansion where content production is based on users’ opinions." She said, "I hope the platform called NEWNEEK becomes a space where still soft young generations can see the world without prejudice, interact with an open mind, and grow together."

Kim So-yeon, CEO of Newneek, is being interviewed by Asia Economy. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

Running NEWNEEK, a startup in its fifth year, has also been stressful. CEO Kim So-yeon said, "I feel tough and happy several times a day." The hardest time for her was after achieving small success with the newsletter but not seeing what was next. It was the moment when she was considering whether to expand the business further or stop after securing about 200,000 subscribers. Kim said, "I could have actually stopped there," adding, "Since the revenue was enough to pay the editors running the newsletter, I wondered whether to stop or move forward, and it was really tough." She said, "What held me back then were the team members," and "Better people joined later, and thanks to the people, we were able to move to the next stage."

Moving beyond email-centered newsletters into the mobile environment of an app opened up a new world. Previously, Newneekers habitually opened emails in the morning at work and started their day by reading the content provided by NEWNEEK. Now, they can open NEWNEEK anytime and anywhere through mobile. CEO Kim So-yeon explained, "These two may seem similar, but they are completely different worlds," adding, "Mobile is like launching a ship into the ocean?an infinite world." NEWNEEK needed to redefine its target point. Kim said, "We reconsidered what we want to solve for our subscribers," and "In the end, it boiled down to wanting to deliver world news easily and entertainingly to busy people." She explained, "Based on this idea, we could provide not only news but also high-quality expert knowledge on mobile and create a platform where people can interact. Furthermore, expanding into a service that solves the problems of this world became the next goal."

Kim So-yeon, CEO of Newneek, is being interviewed by Asia Economy on the 6th. / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@