WSJ names new South Asia bureau chef, Japan editor and Korea news editor

Paul Beckett, the Asia editor of The Wall Street Journal, sent out the following staff announcements on Wednesday:

All: We are delighted to unveil new appointments in Asia.

Bill Spindle is the new South Asia bureau chief.

After various journalistic incarnations at local newspapers from Ann Arbor to Long Island, Bill joined the Journal’s Tokyo bureau in 1997 and helped cover the collapse of that country’s financial system. He served as assistant foreign editor and then bureau chief for the Middle East, Africa and South and Central Asia in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, before taking a three-year hiatus from the Journal to help launch a newspaper in Abu Dhabi. He rejoined as Middle East bureau chief in late 2010, just in time for the Arab Spring uprisings. For the past two years he’s been a New York based senior reporter covering energy issues. Bill grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, attended the University of Michigan and has a master’s in International Affairs from Columbia University. He succeeds Gordon Fairclough, who has moved to London to take on a key role as editor for politics and economy for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Alastair Gale is our new Japan editor.

Alastair is returning to Tokyo, where he joined the company as a copy editor with Dow Jones Newswires in early 1999. In his new role, he will report to Peter Landers, writing about Japan’s economic, business and security challenges. For the past six years as Korea bureau chief, Alastair covered the two Koreas, including the emergence of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Koreans called Kim Jong Un. Alastair spent several years in Singapore with the company as a regional managing editor before moving to Seoul in 2011. He’s originally from the U.K. and graduated from the University of Bristol with a degree in Philosophy and Mathematics.

Jonathan Cheng is our new news editor in Korea.

For the past three years, Jonathan has covered Samsung Electronics, from its ongoing battle with Apple to its recent Galaxy Note 7 debacle. He’s also pitched in on North Korea coverage while delivering aheds on K-pop scholars and the poor guy who accidentally flew to North Korea. Jonathan started his career at the Journal in 2005 as an intern in the Hong Kong bureau. He moved to New York in 2010 to cover the stock market for Money & Investing, and moved to Seoul in 2013. Jonathan speaks English, Chinese, French and Korean. A native of Toronto, he graduated from Princeton with a degree in History. Jonathan will initially report to Tokyo before transitioning to Seoul bureau chief next year.

Please join me in congratulating Bill, Alastair and Jonathan on their new roles.

Thanks and best,