Former CNN reporter recalls experiences in book

Sohn Jie-ae, former CNN correspondent for Seoul and former CEO of Arirang TV and Radio, is now the author of a new book titled “Sohn Jie-ae. CNN. Seoul.” / Courtesy of Gimmyoung Publishers

By Kim Ji-soo

How does a job that entails eating organic food in North Korea sound? Appealing? Thrilling? Hard work?

For former CNN correspondent Sohn Jie-ae, it was all of the above.

Sohn was able to sample organic local fare in Sinpo, South Hamgyeong Province, in 1997, while covering a consortium involving South Korea, Japan, the United States and the European Union that aimed to provide light-water nuclear reactors to North Korea in return for halt to its nuclear development program.

By “organic food,” Sohn meant the flies that ended up in her mouth, attracted by the light from the camera that was set up earlier in the day in preparation for the coverage that evening, she wrote in her first book, recently published. The book, “Sohn Jie-ae. CNN. Seoul,” provides an account of her experiences covering major events on the Korean Peninsula.

“Last year, I got an opportunity to take a break and look back for the first time in 30 years,” she said, describing how the book project started.

In addition to working for CNN for 15 years, Sohn was also the CEO of Arirang TV and Radio. She is currently a visiting professor at Ewha Womans University’s Graduate School of International Studies and with her book, is now also an author. She wrote the book while she was a visiting scholar at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Her book provides inspiration to readers, as she talks about her experiences from her first job in 1985 as a reporter for Business Korea, an English-language magazine published in Seoul. She also recalls funny moments during her stint at CNN and the time she served as the spokeswoman for the G20 preparatory committee in 2010.

“People in my generation can empathize (with the experiences described in my book), while younger readers may see (the experiences) as a guide,” Sohn said.

But for Sohn, 53, writing the book was a way to start over.

“I am starting without the bells and whistles,” Sohn said.

Her career had been straightforward. “I don’t think I have (ever) walked back,” she said.

After graduating as a political science major at Ewha Womans University in 1985, she began working for Business Korea, where she faced challenges from the organization’s hierarchy and significant demands from exacting editors.

Then in 1995, she joined CNN as a Seoul correspondent and bureau chief. She has often been cited as the woman that female Korean collegians want to emulate.

After her 15 years at CNN and her stint at the state-run Arirang TV and Radio from August 2011 to February 2014, she felt she had gone as far as she could go in what she called the first chapter of her life.

“I don’t regret leaving. It was really a scary decision for me back then, but I don’t regret leaving,” she said, when asked about leaving journalism.

She said she doesn’t miss the demands of live coverage. Like other field reporters, Sohn suffered from insomnia, which she alleviated by “drinking a glass of wine or watching television.”

Sohn also said towards her later years at CNN, people began commenting about how she looked better in person

“As a field broadcast journalist, shouldn’t people be commenting about how good you look on television?” she replied with a good-natured laugh.

In 2010, she became the spokeswoman for the G20 preparatory committee in Seoul, and later presidential secretary for overseas public relations.

“Every day was a learning experience,” Sohn said, “a bitter learning experience every day.” While she did not elaborate, she seemed to be alluding to the disappointments she faced on the job. She said that she learned much about Korea’s economic and political structure but she admitted that she asks herself just how much she contributed to the G20 Summit.

With regard to the disappointments and failures in her career, she said: “If you’ve become a better person at the end than you were at the beginning, there is nothing to regret,” she said.

In her book, she does mention a tough press conference held for foreign journalists in Korea after she became the presidential secretary for overseas public relations in the latter part of 2010. She had forgotten, she writes, that press conferences meant probing, searing questions, especially for foreign journalists who did not have frequent access to the presidential office. She wrote about how she heard them joking that she might not hold another press conference after that one.

“You cannot always be 100 percent ready. But you have to show you’re willing and able to do it too, like have this attitude that the job is yours,” she said.

She has also had time to reflect on whether she has done enough for the younger generation of women. As one of the first female journalists or spokeswomen, she enjoyed the privilege of getting a seat at the table.

“Now, I want to be a little more proactive in speaking out for women,” she said.

Sohn said her courage comes from the “ajumma” in her. “Ajumma” is a Korean word for married women with children. “I think the word signifies that someone is willing to break social norms or sensibilities for the best interests of her children,” she said.

With her free time, Sohn looks forward to fulfilling other personal goals, including possibly her second and third books.

“Well, my publishers say writing a book is like giving birth. You say you never want to have another child after the first one, but you forget and have second and third ones,” she said. She already has numerous topics in mind.

“I can do a book with my daughter, like a mother-daughter book, write about the interesting food that I have eaten or write about management,” Sohn said.