SEOUL: Asia Journalists Association is set to elect five vice presidents to its executive committee, marking a new phase in which the 20-year-old association is being run.

A regular member of the pan-Asian association will also be elected to the committee, the highest decision-making body in AJA.

The five candidates for the vice presidency, from the five Asia regions, and the candidate for the Executive Committee today gave their candidacy speeches during a Zoom meeting held across several countries.

Participants discussing issues (Photo: Pooneh Nedai)

Sathasivam Leo Nirosha Darshan (South Asia), Pooneh Nedaei Kharghani Sabet (West Asia), Kubanychbek Taabalidiev (Central Asia), Norila Daud (Southeast Asia), and Kang Seok-Jae (East Asia) gave their speeches to highlight the major reasons for vying for the posts as well as their plans and programs.

Nurzhan Kasmalieva also gave her speech as a hopeful for the Executive Committee regular membership.

Each candidate needs at least two thirds of the votes to win and become a member, and the voters have up to seven days to make their choice.

A section of the participants (Photo: Sophal Chhay)

In their speeches, all candidates shared a message of hope and optimism for the future of the association, as they hailed the developments within AJA and pledged to bring it more with the latest technological advances impacting the media world, approaches.

Training workshops and closer interaction with other associations both in Asia and beyond were also on the mind of most speakers as they shared their ideas as potential vice presidents.

Sang-ki Lee and Seok-jae Kang -inset: Pooneh Nedai (Photo: Pooneh Nedai)

AJA Founding President Sang-ki Lee oversaw the historic meeting and emphasized the significance of moving forward with the association to continue the work started by the visionaries and trailblazers who launched officially AJA on November 19, 2004.