Koo named to lead nation branding committee

By Ryu Chang-gi

Former Arirang TV President Samuel Koo has been appointed chairman of the Presidential Council on Nation Branding.

The organization has been in charge of enhancing the credibility and overall image of Korea since being established in 2009.

“I plan to focus on letting global citizens have more opportunities to get to know Korean national treasures,” Koo said.

Koo, who worked as a journalist at the Korea Herald in the 1960s, also served as the Associated Press correspondent at the United Nations headquarters in New York and the news agency’s European correspondent in Rome for over 20 years.

He was made ambassador for cultural cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affair and Trade in 2008. He was also appointed the representative in Japan for the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in 2002.

He studied public administration at Korea University and earned his master’s degree in journalism at Columbia University.

His wife is world-leading cellist Chung Myung-hwa.