Alina Cho is an American journalist and former CNN correspondent, widely recognized for her international reporting and in-depth coverage of significant global events. During her tenure at CNN, she contributed regularly to the network’s morning programs, including Early Start and Starting Point. Joining CNN in 2004, Cho was one of the few American journalists granted rare access to report live from North Korea.
Born in Vancouver, Washington, Alina Cho is the daughter of South Korean immigrants from Seoul. She grew up in Vancouver and maintained strong ties to her Korean heritage. Cho attended Northwestern University, where she received her graduate degree from the Medill School of Journalism, one of the nation’s leading programs in journalism education. Drawn to storytelling from an early age, Cho committed herself to becoming a journalist. She leads a private personal life and is not publicly known to be married.
Alina Cho began her journalism career at Chicagoland Television, where she gained foundational experience in local reporting. She later joined WFTS-TV, an ABC affiliate in Tampa, Florida, working as a reporter and morning show anchor. Her reporting during the 1996 St. Petersburg riots earned her a regional Emmy Award, reflecting her dedication to covering complex social issues.
Cho subsequently worked at CNBC, where she covered major financial and breaking news stories, including the September 11 terrorist attacks. She went on to become a substitute anchor for ABC’s World News This Morning and World News Now, while also serving as a digital correspondent for ABC News Live and contributing to NewsOne, ABC's affiliate news service. Her national profile continued to grow when she joined CNN as a general assignment correspondent based in New York, expanding her visibility on both domestic and international stages.
Throughout her reporting career, Cho has covered numerous high-impact global and national stories. Her assignments included coverage from the United Nations during the lead-up to the Iraq War, field reporting on the 2002 sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C. area, and in-depth coverage from ground zero in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.
Among her most notable assignments, Cho was allowed rare entry into North Korea, where she reported live from Pyongyang. She provided coverage of then-leader Kim Jong-un’s early public appearances, offering American audiences a glimpse into one of the world’s most secretive governments. In 2008, Cho accompanied the New York Philharmonic on its groundbreaking trip to North Korea—a major cultural exchange initiative. Additionally, she created a personal and investigative feature program examining the enduring division between North and South Korea, intertwining the historical context with her family’s own experiences during the Korean War.
Alina Cho’s journalistic contributions have been widely recognized. As part of CNN’s team, she earned both a Peabody Award and an Emmy Award for excellence in coverage of Hurricane Katrina’s devastation in New Orleans. In acknowledgment of her impact on journalism and media, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters by Old Dominion University.
| Birth Date: | 30 Nov, 1970 |
| Age: | 49 yrs |
| Occupations: | Journalist |
| Citizenship: | United States of America |
| Birth Place: | Vancouver |
| Education: | Medill School of Journalism Boston College |
| Gender: | Female |
| Description: | American journalist |
