Job Title: Editor in Charge, Korean Desk

Department: Editorial

Reports To: Managing Editor, Asia

Location: Seoul, South Korea

Schedule: Full-Time

Who We Are

Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with editorial and operational bureaus in Taipei, Bangkok, and Seoul. A congressionally funded grantee of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), RFA operates with full editorial independence. 

Our mission is to provide accurate, uncensored news and information to people living in countries where a free press does not exist. We broadcast in nine languages and dialects — Mandarin, Cantonese, Tibetan, Uyghur, Burmese, Vietnamese, Lao, Khmer, and Korean — reaching audiences across China, North Korea, Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia, Laos and beyond via shortwave, satellite, and the internet. Our journalists work in some of the world’s most difficult media environments, often at considerable personal risk, filling a critical gap in access to truthful, timely news for millions of people who would otherwise have very little of it. That reality shapes everything about how we work and who we hire to lead this organization. 

Job Summary

The Editor in Charge leads the Korean news desk end-to-end: editorial direction, staff leadership, news operations management, and audience accountability. The role owns the desk's daily output and long-term editorial identity, ensuring RFA's journalism reaches its audience accurately, compellingly, and across all platforms — in alignment with RFA's mission and news standards and best practices.

The Editor in Charge operates as the primary editorial decision-maker for the Korean desk, directing staff distributed across one or more time zones (Seoul, Washington DC), and coordinating closely with counterpart desks and cross-desk functions. The role's management scope covers all aspects of news operations and editorial personnel; office administration, facilities, and local infrastructure remain the responsibility of the Country Operations Director, with whom the Editor in Charge coordinates closely on personnel and operational matters affecting the desk. The role reports to the Managing Editor at the desk's primary location and is the escalation point for all editorial, news operations, and personnel matters within the service. 

Key Responsibilities

Editorial Leadership

• Set the editorial direction and coverage priorities of the Korean desk, in alignment with RFA's mission and the Executive Editor and Managing Editor's strategic guidance.
• Lead daily editorial planning, ensuring the desk produces journalism that is accurate, impactful, and relevant to its target audience across web, social, shortwave, and video platforms.
• Approve high-stakes or sensitive stories before publication, in coordination with the Standards Editor, Safety Director, and General Counsel as appropriate.
• Ensure the desk upholds RFA's editorial standards, sourcing practices, and ethical guidelines at all times.
• Foster original, exclusive, and investigative reporting; encourage experimentation in story formats and multimedia storytelling.
• Build and maintain a robust source network relevant to the desk's coverage area, including in restrictive or high-surveillance environments.
• Collaborate with the Coverage Editor to identify cross-desk story opportunities and facilitate content sharing across language services.
• Collaborate with the Visual Editor to identify and develop visually driven stories; ensure photographic and multimedia content meets RFA's visual quality standards and supports image-led storytelling across platforms.
• Collaborate with the Audience Engagement Editor on coverage strategy for major stories and events, aligning editorial planning with audience engagement initiatives to maximize reach and impact.
• Work with the investigative team — directing the desk's data journalists, investigative reporters, and OSINT journalists — to develop and publish in-depth, high-impact investigative journalism.

Operations and Workflow

•   Oversee the desk's full output cycle across both time zones (Washington DC and Seoul) in which the desk operates, ensuring editorial continuity through the follow-the-sun model.
•   Direct the Senior Editors (News and Output) in managing their respective functions: news assignment and development, and pre-publication editing and publishing.
•   Ensure clean and consistent editorial handoffs between time zones, maintaining the desk's publication schedule and quality standards around the clock.
•   Leverage data, analytics, and audience insight — in coordination with the Director of Audience & Research — to inform coverage decisions and optimize content reach.
•   Coordinate with the Senior Producer on A/V and broadcast output, ensuring all multimedia content meets RFA's editorial and production standards.

Staff Management

•   Manage all editorial personnel on the desk across locations: hiring, onboarding, performance evaluation, professional development, and scheduling.
•   Provide ongoing editorial mentorship and feedback to Senior Editors, reporters, and producers; foster a culture of editorial excellence and continuous improvement.
•   Manage staff travel and reporting assignments; approve operational expenditures in coordination with the relevant Managing Editor and Finance.
•   Partner with HR on recruitment, retention, and workforce planning for the desk.
•   Flag potential journalist safety concerns to the Safety Director and relevant Managing Editor, ensuring staff and source protection is built into editorial decisions from the assignment stage.

Cross-Desk and Institutional

•   Act as the desk's representative in editorial planning meetings, cross-desk initiatives, and institutional projects.
•   Liaise with Technical Operations, Production & Assets, and Country Operations on the desk's equipment, infrastructure, and bureau needs.
•   Coordinate with the relevant Country Operations Director on desk personnel matters and operational issues affecting the editorial team; office administration, facilities, and local infrastructure management remain within the Country Operations Director's remit.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or above in journalism, political science, economics, or a related field; or a minimum of 10 years of professional journalism experience in the Korean Peninsula coverage, with at least 4 years in a senior editorial leadership role overseeing a team or desk.
• Experience managing journalists across multiple locations and time zones, including in follow-the-sun or distributed newsroom environments.
• Deep knowledge of and political sensitivity toward the Korean Peninsula and it's surrounding neighbors; demonstrated experience leading coverage of major political events and developments; comprehensive subject-matter expertise in the desk's coverage area, including its political, social, and media landscape.
• Demonstrated record of producing high-quality journalism — including breaking news, investigations, and long-form reporting — to publication standards.
• Strong editorial judgment and experience making difficult calls on accuracy, sourcing, safety, and standards under deadline pressure.
• Fluency in multi-platform publishing: web, social media, video, shortwave, and audio formats.
• Demonstrated ability to build and develop an editorial team: hiring, mentoring, performance management, and professional development.
• Experience building and operating source networks in sensitive, restricted, or high-surveillance environments is strongly preferred, with existing networks and contacts.
• High degree of familiarity with journalist safety principles and source protection practices 
• Native-level fluency and absolute editorial mastery of written and spoken Korean
• Professional working proficiency in English.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience leading a language service, international desk, or multilingual newsroom.
• Experience working at an international broadcaster or public media organization 
• Experience developing and publishing visual or multimedia-led storytelling 
• Background in investigative, data journalism is highly desirable
• Experience working with diaspora, exiled, or at-risk source communities.
• Familiarity with audience development, analytics tools, and digital distribution strategies for contested information markets.
• Possession of valid work authorization for South Korea is highly advantageous for this role.

Physical Requirements / Working Conditions

This position is hybrid, with three days in-office and two days remote weekly. Work is sedentary, performed at a desk using standard office equipment, with occasional lifting up to 15 pounds. Reasonable accommodations will be made for qualified individuals with disabilities.

To be considered for this position, please include a cover letter with your application.