Arirang TV, known as one of the most popular English speaking broadcast stations in Korea, often promotes Korea and Korean culture to foreigners living in Korea and also abroad.
While Arirang TV shows such as Catchy Korea are some of the main programs that expose Korea and Korean culture to foreigners in Korea and abroad, Arirang TV also covers global news and events. Its shows are hosted by a large team – including News presenter Kwon Joo-hyun at Arirang TV.
Being involved in one of Arirang TV’s productions, News presenter Kwon Joo- hyun has what many would consider a very public profile.
However, she does not only work as a news anchor with Arirang News, but also hosts her own productions and also shows on other networks like EBS Kwon Joo-hyun’s Real British English, Naver Podcast Kwon Joo-hyun’s English Newsroom, and her own YouTube channel Kwon Anna TV.
Kwon found inspiration after listening to flight announcements during flights made by flight attendants, which pushed her towards her career in broadcasting. She lived in the United Kingdom and started watching Arirang TV after she came back to Korea. Kwon started her career as an English writer for a program at TBS eFM, a foreign language radio show in Seoul.
“Initially, I didn’t intend to work as an English writer,” she said. “It was just that the opportunity came first as I applied for all sorts of positions related to broadcasting. However, looking back, the work did help me attain knowledge and an understanding of broadcasting, which I might have missed if I only worked as a news anchor.”
According to Kwon, working for an international broadcasting station requires a lot of effort from pre-planning to improvisation to delivery.
“As I present the morning news, I prepare by reading, listening, and writing down follow-ups to various news covered the day before and early in the morning,” she said. “I also try to be aware of the major headlines of various countries through BBC and CNN before I go to work.”
Based on this information, Kwon writes her scripts and makes sure that they are timed correctly by practicing the script several times before going on air.
Broadcasting on TV is one thing, but hosting live events is another, both of which Kwon has been doing for many years. Kwon says the difference regarding hosting live events compared to TV is that when hosting live events sudden and inevitable changes are likely to happen. However, she now thinks that there is really no big difference between the two.
Kwon’s advice to university students who want to improve their English skills is to constantly expose themselves to situations that require the language.
“Choose one English radio program you favor, I highly recommend EBS Kwon Joo-hyun’s Real British English, listen to it, and practice repeating the expressions you learn every day,” Kwon said.
This advice was similar to those who have aspirations about getting into broadcasting.
“Choose a news anchor as your role model and practice imitating him or her,” Kwon said. “For me, I personally love Alice Baxter, a BBC news anchor, and remember practicing following her in my old days.”
While Kwon’s road has been long she is a firm believer that with hard work goals will be achieved. “Dreams can come true,” Kwon said. “If you act upon them.”