Editing Yonhap News Agency (section)

==Activity==
Yonhap maintains various agreements with 90 non-Korean news agencies, and also has a services-exchange agreement with North Korea's [[Korean Central News Agency]] (KCNA) agency, signed in 2002.<ref name=aboutus>{{cite web |url=https://en.yna.co.kr/aboutus/index |title=About Us |publisher=Yonhap News Agency |location=Seoul |year=2009}}</ref> It is the only Korean wire service that works with foreign news agencies,<ref name=pi>Shrivastava, K. M. (2007). ''News Agencies from Pigeon to Internet''. Elgin, IL: Sterling Publishers. {{ISBN|978-1-932705-67-6}}.</ref> and provides a limited but freely-available selection of news on its website in Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Arabic, and French.{{fact|date=December 2024}}

Yonhap is South Korea's only news agency large enough to have some 60 correspondents abroad and 600 reporters across the nation.<ref name=aboutus /> Its largest shareholder is the [[Korea News Agency Commission]] (KONAC).{{fact|date=December 2024}} Yonhap was the host news agency of the 1988 [[Seoul Summer Olympics]], and was elected twice to the board of the [[Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies]] (OANA).{{fact|date=December 2024}} In 2021, Yonhap partnered with the production company "[[Victory Contents]]" for a [[Korean drama]] screenplay contest.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20210817143200528|title=연합뉴스-빅토리콘텐츠 드라마작가 공모전서 작가 4명 수상|trans-title=''Four writers win at the Yonhap News - Victory Contents drama screenplay contest''|author=Na, Hak-jin|date=August 17, 2021|website=Yonhap News|lang=ko|accessdate=June 6, 2024}}</ref>

In 2003, the South Korean government passed a law giving financial and systematic assistance to the agency, to reinforce staff and provide equipment.<ref name=pi /> In the legislation, it was also given the role of “promoting the country's image” to an international audience.<ref name=aboutus /> The head of the Yonhap agency is usually affiliated with the government, which critics say harms [[press freedom]] and influences news-gathering. However, it is government affiliation, rather than press laws (which are supportive of press freedom), which is said to be the cause of any limitations,<ref>Sin, T.; Shin, D.C.; Rutkowski, C.P.; Pak, C. (2003). ''The Quality of Life in Korea: Comparative and Dynamic Perspectives''. London: Kluwer. {{ISBN|978-1-4020-0947-1}}.</ref> though the agency does criticise the government.<ref>See e.g. [http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2009/01/12/27/0301000000AEN20090112007900315F.HTML (2nd LD) "S. Korean lawmakers heap criticism on government's reversal in airstrip row"]. Yonhap. January 12, 2009.</ref>