The leadership of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union has reaffirmed its commitment to “act as a bridge between developed and less-developed broadcasters” in the region.

At the start of the formal sessions of the organization’s 49th General Assembly, held in Seoul, Korea, Oct. 11–17, the President Kim In-Kyu and Secretary General Javad Mottaghi asserted support for broadcasters in the area’s less-developed countries. They addressed 720 participants, representing media in 60 countries.

Kim said the ABU had to be an “in-between channel” to promote international understanding and exchange, remembering nonetheless that there are economic and digital gaps in the Asia-Pacific region. For example, even as Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Korea broadcast in high-defintion television, other countries are technologically behind.

“We try to narrow this divide between the developing and developed countries,” Kim said, reminding the assembly that the ABU extended from Afghanistan to Fiji, covering countries as diverse as Iran and North Korea.

He said negotiations over broadcast rights for the Olympics, World Cup football and other international sporting events demonstrated the value of the ABU, when broadcasters did not want to purchase rights directly but wanted the ABU to negotiate fees.

“In the future, the ABU will continue to do its best to provide major sporting events broadcasting rights to its members,” Kim said.

Mottaghi said hosting a gathering, like the General Assembly, gave media the chance to learn from each other and find solutions to digital technologies, content or audience expectations, in addition to providing platforms for celebrating Asian-Pacific cultures.