메인메뉴 바로가기본문으로 바로가기
네이버 공유 카카오 공유 트위터 공유 페이스북 공유

“ I Look Forward to Economic and Media Exchange with Korea”

With a bilateral free trade agreement scheduled to be signed in November, Korea and Peru can look forward to more active exchange and cooperation in a number of areas. César Joaquín Campos Rodríguez, a prominent journalist and well-known host of a popular talk show on current affairs in Peru, visited Seoul to discuss media exchange and Peru-Korea cooperative relations.

What are your impressions about Korea?
It was great to see, with my own eyes, the Korea that I had heard about from the news or read in books. Through this visit, I realized that you have a society that has made great achievements in a short period of time, and Korea is a great country with an impressive infrastructure and social structure that deserves to be respected by the people of other countries. Thank Korea Foundation for inviting me to Korea.

During your stay, what particular areas did you focus on?
I had a chance to meet with people in various fields, from government agencies to businesses in the private sector. Among the business sector, I paid attention to those names well known in Peru, such as Samsung, Daewoo, and Hyundai. I also observed Korea’s democratization and politics during my visit to the National Assembly. And I met with the organization committees of the G-20 Summit and the Expo 2012 Yeosu. These visits helped me to have a comprehensive look at Korea, from the private sector to the public sector, thereby providing me with a chance to enhance my understanding about Korea.

As a well-known TV figure and columnist, what aspects of Korea do you plan to describe to the people in Peru?
I have already sent back several columns on various topics. The first report was about how peaceful Korean society really is. When I departed from Peru for Seoul, I actually thought that an inter-Korean conflict was imminent. But I could not detect any such sense of crisis in the streets of Seoul. The Korean people want peace and do not want to see war. So I wanted to accurately report to the Peruvian people that foreign media reports about the likelihood of a war were very different from the reality here. I also wrote an article about how South Korea, China, and Japan have discussed international issues, such as the sinking of the South Korean naval vessel Cheonan. I think Central and South American countries can learn much from this kind of close cooperation among the three countries.



What was the outcome of your visit to various news media in Korea?
I visited Korea’s English daily newspaper The Korea Times and Arirang TV that broadcasts English-language programs. I was surprised to hear about the long history of The Korea Times, which was founded immediately after the Korean War. The busy atmosphere at the newspaper’s editorial office just before the printing deadline was not much different from a newspaper publisher in Peru. It was impressive that Arirang TV’s advanced facilities enable it to produce high-quality programs and to broadcast programs in different languages at the same time. Digital broadcasting in Peru only began about two or three months ago. So Peru still has a long way to go, in comparison to the digital broadcasting technology in Korea.

What else have you observed about the media situation in Korea?
Recently, Korea seems to be having much discussion about the integration and expansion of the media, such as newspapers and broadcast firms. In Peru, for sometime now, there have been no restrictions on the operations of media or the form of media ownership. But in fact, this has d various negative effects, such as the control of key media by business conglomerates and a commercialization of news reports, which adversely impact on the freedom of speech and the audience’s choices. So Korea should make much effort to prevent these kinds of problems in the future.

You have long served as the host of a popular talk show of TV Per?. How would you describe this experience?
TV Per?, the national TV network of Peru, is the only broadcast channel that reaches the most remote areas of our country. As such I make efforts to reflect as many people’s opinions as possible. I am especially proud of having discussed matters that I thought people should know about, even though certain issues are not popular with the public. People are most interested in entertainment programs, while less viewers show an interest in public policy or interviews of politicians. For this reason, I have to work even harder as the program host. I believe it is our responsibility, as Peru’s national broadcast network, to provide the public, no matter how many actual viewers there might be, with an opportunity to view programs that discuss matters related to their daily lives.

We understand that Korean TV dramas have attracted a large viewing audience in Peru.
Under an agreement with Korean broadcast firms, TV Per? has aired several Korean TV drama series. The most popular dramas have been “Winter Sonata” and “My Lovely Sam Soon,” which I myself have enjoyed with much affection. Korean dramas are so popular that some media have criticized TV Per? for showing foreign dramas during prime time hours. In any case, through such drama programs, the Peruvian people have been able to widen the scope of their understanding about Korean people’s way of living and feelings.

In what areas should Korea and Peru promote media exchange?
Since Peru and Korea are so geographically distant from each other, there has been little exchange in general, let alone media exchange. But hereafter, the journalists of our two countries should visit each other more often and make efforts to develop a closer understanding. Just as TV Per? has received much assistance from Arirang TV, I think many Peruvian media would benefit greatly from assistance from the media in Korea, in preparation for the global age of digital broadcasting. The President of Peru will visit Korea in November to sign the FTA accord with Korea. Then, as economic exchange gains momentum, it will be possible for our two countries to realize media exchange.

SEARCH

통합검색

통합검색버튼
통합검색닫기

전체메뉴

전체메뉴 닫기