Hanyang University General Association announced that Son Hyun-duk, CEO of Maeil Business Newspaper, was nominated for the 2023 “Proud Hanyang Alumni Award” on January 11, 2024. In the year 1979, CEO Son Hyun-duk enrolled in Hanyang University’s Department of Economics. He joined Maeil Business Newspaper in 1988 and served as the head of the economy department and the editor-in-chief. He has contributed to the development of Korea’s media industry by demonstrating his outstanding ability as a journalist. 

Q. Since when were you interested in writing?
A. My first job after graduating from graduate school was at a stock-related company, and I had never deeply considered a career as a journalist. I was simply interested in writing. However, after working in the stock-related sector, I began to find the role of a journalist appealing. Additionally, 1988 was a period of rapid change in media companies so many reporters were being hired. Therefore, I decided to take the job entrance exam and applied for a Maeil Business Newspaper trainee reporter. Luckily, I passed the exam and have been a reporter ever since.

Q. I heard that you were in New York during the 9/11 terrorist attacks while working as a Washington correspondent. How did you handle the incident?
A. I was in Washington, D.C. during the 9/11 attacks. I was on my way to work when the attacks occurred and got stuck in traffic controls at the time. Although it was night in Seoul, I coordinated with the manager who was on duty and contributed to producing the paper.

Q. You published books in the fields of economics such as New Economic Article is Money. How did you decide to write books?
A. As a journalist covering various fields, at first, I felt like I was doing a header into the bare ground, which means ‘Jump in the deep end.’ I believed that writing books in those fields was the best way to deepen my understanding. Writing books required me to study extensively and interact with numerous experts, which ultimately led to the decision to write them.

Q. What are your plans for future activities as a writer?
A. We typically do not refer to ourselves as writers; we are journalists. The core of journalism is ‘delivering facts.’ I believe that the most difficult and valuable writing in the world is a sentence composed of 5 W’s and 1 H. Currently, I do not write columns or articles because I am a representative. However, I have been accumulating subject matter for articles from time to time because writing is ultimately my job.