U.S based mass media company New York Times (NYT) has said it will be moving part of its office in Hong Kong to South Korea’s capital Seoul. This resolution comes two weeks after China passed a new security law concerning the city.
The media company claims its staff members in Hong Kong have been facing tough conditions securing a work permits leaving the company with limited options among them moving entire digital team of journalists to Seoul in the course of next year.
“Given the uncertainty of the moment, we are making plans to geographically diversify our editing staff. We will maintain a large presence in Hong Kong and have every intention of maintaining our coverage of Hong Kong and China,” said NYT spokeswoman.
Earlier in the year, China said journalists were no longer to work in mainland China and they cannot work in Hong Kong city also.
According to NYT, tried renewing work permit for its well-seasoned correspondent in China Chris Buckley. Unfortunately, government officials in Hong Kong refused to renew the work permit without giving any explanation.
The journalist was left with no other alternative rather than leaving China in May after the authorities refused to renew his journalist visa.
In a released statement, Hong Kong authorities said the city still remains a regional media hub.
Other international media outlets like Wall Street Journal, Agence France-Presse and the Financial Times still have their regional headquarters in Hong Kong.
