The Korea Internet Newspaper Association said on Thursday it promoted Heo Yoon-cheol, head of its secretariat, to secretary general, effective Jan. 2. Heo graduated from the Department of Journalism and Broadcasting at Pusan National University. He earned master’s and doctoral degrees at its graduate school.

Heo joined the association in 2021 as head of its secretariat. He has received multiple paper awards, including the Wudang Young Scholar Paper Award presented by the Korean Association for Journalism and Communication Studies.

He has served as a director of the Korean Association for Journalism and Communication Studies, the Korean Association for Journalism and Communication Studies, the Korean Association for Communication Studies, the Korean Regional Journalism Association, the Korean Public Relations Association, the Korean Association for Political Communication, and the Korean Media Policy Society. He has worked as an editorial board member for the academic journals Korean Journal of Journalism & Communication Studies, Broadcasting and Telecommunications Research, and Political Communication Research.

He has served as a member of the National Assembly Advisory Committee on Improving the Media Environment, the OBS Viewer Committee, the JTBC Fair Reporting Committee, and the Regional Journalism Academic Innovation Committee. He is active as a director of the Pusan National University Alumni Association in Seoul and a director of the University Press Council. He serves as editor of the Internet Newspaper Association Bulletin. He is an adjunct professor in the Department of Media and Communication at Gachon University.