SINGAPORE - Those who watch Channel NewsAsia (CNA) will probably recognise Julie Yoo, who presents Asia Connect, a fast-paced delivery of the latest news from the Asian region with “live” updates from correspondents in key capital cities. She also fronts the channel’s daily news segment, News Now.

Yoo joined CNA in 2014 after leaving South Korean broadcaster Arirang, where she had a seven-year career, most notably as a news presenter for Prime Time News. While there she covered inter-Korean relations, North Korea’s nuclear programmes and South Korean diplomacy and politics, and was a presidential correspondent during the Lee Myung-bak administration in 2010 to 2011.

Although Singapore is the first country outside of Korea that she has worked in, she has, as she said, “been around the block” - living in the United States, Hong Kong and London when she was growing up.

Since this year’s International Women’s Day campaign message is Pledge For Parity, we asked Yoo if she had experienced any prejudice in the newsroom.

“The newsroom is actually where women and men can excel, if you are willing to put the work. Look at the big names such as Christiane Amanpour, Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters who paved the way for females in the news business,” she said. 
“I recently read a book called The News Sorority, and it was about how women had to batter the walls of the male fortress of TV journalism, especially during the ’60s and ’70s, when these companies hired women as researchers but not writers. Women would not be able to cover politics and such hard news and those who broke that barrier were frowned upon. So we have come a long way since then,” she added.

Nevertheless, for Yoo, being a news reporter meant that she had to toughen up, both physically and mentality to get the job done.

“It’s not the most ladylike job in the world. Many times, I had to push and shove through the crowd to get a better camera position,” she said. “I’d sleep in the cheapest motel after filming to save production costs or work till very late at night to get that scoop. It’s just how much you really want to do it.

If you’re thinking, ‘I don’t want to get my hands dirty’ or ‘what about my hair?’ – then obviously, you don’t want to get into the news business.”

As for the notion of having International Women’s Day, Yoo is all for it (“it’s a rallying point for women”); however, she also said that she would welcome a day when there wasn’t a need to have a day dedicated to women. Not because it’s not important, but if true parity were to be achieved, then such a day would be moot.

“Personally, I dream of the day when we don’t have to have a special day to remind people of what women are all about or what our achievements are. If we stand in the same platform, we should celebrate women every day instead of having just one particular day.

“That’s an idealistic dream, but I don’t think we need a particular day. But I’m quite hopeful. You see women in boardrooms, as presidents and political leaders ... these are all great achievements. We just need some time ... for equality and parity (to occur) when it comes to gender.”