Two of Alaska’s Korean news organizations are officially merging.
Under the new agreement, Alaska Korean Community News and Anchorage Korean News will be working together to reduce operational costs and strengthen the role of Korean journalism in the state.
The merger acquisition makes Alaska Korean News the owner of Anchorage Korean News. Eugene Cho is the operating manager for both. He says that the two free Korean newspapers were both originally on a weekly publishing schedule, but have since moved to printing twice a month, switching off weeks.
“Alaska Korean News and Anchorage Korean News working together is a great business move with reduced redundancy in operations and reduced costs while also showing our community how much more impact we can have by working together,” Cho said.
Both channels will continue to operate separately and maintain their own individual editorial perspectives, Cho said, but opening the door to the partnership will be beneficial for staff as well as community members. The merger means that both news orgs will be able to coordinate coverage and invest in more in-depth reporting in Alaska.
Anchorage is home to more than 7,000 Koreans and 350-plus Korean-owned businesses, Cho says. The biggest difference between the two Korean news organizations in Anchorage is that one is bilingual, and the other is almost entirely in Korean.
He bought the Anchorage Korean News two years ago in early 2024. He decided to make the paper bilingual to make it more accessible to Korean-Americans like himself who may not be able to translate.
Alaska Korean Community News was founded in 2003.
We look forward to helping Koreans and the greater community of Alaska to stay informed on local news, documenting Korean American history in Alaska, while also increasing collaboration with Korean organizations and businesses that make up the advertisers that allow us to do what we do,” he said.
Sam Davenport is a writer residing in Anchorage. She's a leo and a plant-person, and loves spending quality time with her dog, Aspen. She is a Real Housewives fan and has been called a Bravo historian.
