<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">Dear Koreanists,</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">The British Broadcasting Corporation is currently considering whether to implement a Korean language radio service to be broadcast across the Korean peninsula. At present, the BBC operates its World Service in 28 languages, and it is our sincere hope that this discussion page will raise support in favour of a Korean-language version,
with a potential audience of over 70 million.</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">Created in 1932, the BBC World Service now reaches over 188 million people a week all over the world. Its activities are in accordance with the BBC’s public purposes of sustaining citizenship and civil society, promoting education and learning, and stimulating creativity and cultural excellence. The service’s long history and high-quality reporting will both complement and benefit from the thriving journalistic landscape in Korea. As Peter Horrocks, Director of the BBC World Service, said, “In turbulent times, the World Service’s mission to provide trusted news and impartial information
has never been more important.”</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">An initial debate on the possible launch of the Korean language service was held on Wednesday the 23rd of January in the House of Lords, with the director Horrocks and relevant political figures expressing optimism. While no formal decision was taken at that time, BBC Korea may soon become a reality with enough public interest and support.</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size:
12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">We feel that you, a</span></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13.59375px;">s specialists in Korean studies,</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13.59375px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">have valuable opinions to share. Please take a moment to visit our site, </span></span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13.59375px;">have your say, and like the page if possible.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size:
12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/BBCforKorea" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="cursor: pointer; color: rgb(59, 89, 152); text-decoration: initial; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">https://www.facebook.com/<wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block;"></span>BBCforKorea</a><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><br><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">Thank you.</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: 13.600000381469727px;">The BBC Korea Launch Support
Committee</span></span></div></div></body></html>