The roundtable, one of dozens of events at the Congress and Forum, will focus on the crucial role Asian newspapers play in pushing for transparency and dismantling corrupt practices, and the risks they take in pursuing stories linked to corruption.

More than 1,000 publishers, CEOs, managing directors, chief editors and other senior newspaper executives are registered for the Congress and Forum, the global meetings of the world’s press. The full schedule of events, to be held from 29 May to 1 June, can be found on the World Association of Newspapers’ web site: www.wan-press.org/seoul2005. There is still time to register!

The Press Freedom Roundtable, called "Risky Business: Newspapers in the Fight Against Corruption," will be held on 29 May. Speakers include:

  Qingchuan Lian, who was the first to break the news about the SARS epidemic in China. His newspaper, the 21st Century Business Herald, was shut down by the government after it published a plea for political reform along with a critique of past Chinese leaders.

  Bambang Harymurti, the editor-in-chief of the investigative newspaper Tempo Daily and the weekly Tempo magazine, both symbols of quality journalism and the battle for freedom of expression in Indonesia.

  Narayan Wagle, the editor of the Kantipur Daily, the largest daily newspaper in Nepal, which is known for its investigative reporting. In March 2005, Narayan was questioned by police after the paper covered anti-king demonstrations. He has been accused of violating a royal proclamation of 1 February which bans any criticism of the king.

  Sankarshan Thakur, the executive editor of Tehelka newspaper, which drew international attention with its investigations of cricket match fixing and bribery in the Indian defence industry. Its reporters managed to film defence and political figures in the act of taking bribes.

  Steven Gan, editor of the online publication Malaysiakini, regularly tests the limits of the Malaysian government’s tolerance of press freedom by publishing articles on the internet that rarely appear in Malaysia’s mainstream press. Malaysiakini has become one of the country’s most popular news sources.

  Shaheen Sehbai, editor of The News in Pakistan, which was accused by the military government of Pakistan of acting against the country’s national interests when it published stories on the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Mr Sehbai fled the country to the United States, where he now runs the South Asia Tribune, which publishes exposés on the Musharraf regime.

The Chairman of the seminar is Kavi Chongkittavorn, Executive Editor of The Nation newspaper in Thailand.

The Congress, Forum and Info Services Expo examine every aspect of newspaper publishing.

The Congress concentrates on business issues and features such speakers as Arthur O. Sulzberger, Chairman of the New York Times Company, Shinichi Hakoshima, President of The Asahi Shimbun, and Kevin Roberts, Chief Executive Officer of Saatchi and Saatchi..

The Forum focuses on newsroom issues. Speakers include Krishna Barat, Principal Scientist at Google Inc. and creator of Google News; Jan-Eric Peters, Editor of Die Welt, Welt Kompakt and Berliner Morgenpost in Germany; and newspaper designer Mario Garcia.

Info Services Expo is a showcase of the new services and technologies which are shaping the newspaper of the future.

Full event information, including programme details and a list of participants, can be found here.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 72 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 102 countries, 11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr.