S. Korean reporters head to nuclear test site

South Korean journalists get off a plane at Wonsan Kalma Airport in North Korea, Wednesday. / Joint Press Corps

By Kim Bo-eun, Joint Press Corps

A group of South Korean reporters arrived in North Korea by plane Wednesday after Pyongyang on the same day granted them entry to cover the regime's shutdown of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site to be conducted this week.

The eight reporters landed at the North's eastern coastal city of Wonsan, after departing around noon from Seongnam, south of Seoul.

Together with journalists from foreign press outlets, they boarded a train to take them to the Punggye-ri site at 6 p.m.

It reportedly takes 20 hours from Wonsan to the Punggye-ri site up north _ 12 hours by train, four hours by bus and two hours on foot, given the train travels at 35 kilometers per hour.

The schedule of the Punggye-ri site shutdown is yet to be confirmed. North Korea earlier stated it would happen between Wednesday and Friday depending on weather conditions.

For five days the North had refused to accept South Korea's list of reporters, submitted last Friday. Only journalists of the U.S., U.K., China and Russia departed for the North on Tuesday. It appeared the South Korean press had been excluded from the event, which prompted the South Korean government to issue a statement expressing its regret over the situation.

However, when the South made its final notification through the Panmunjeom communication channel early Wednesday, the North accepted the South's list.

"The government welcomes the South Korean joint press corps' participation in the Punggye-ri nuclear test site shutdown, and hopes that beginning with the event and through the North Korea-U.S. summit, as well as dialogue at various levels, that the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is swiftly achieved," unification ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun said, after announcing the North's acceptance of the South Korean journalists.

The reporters had flown to Beijing, Monday, with hopes of being issued their visas before the flight that left for Wonsan on Tuesday.

However, the North snubbed their request and the flight departed for Wonsan carrying only journalists from foreign press outlets.

South Korean reporters returned to Seoul late Tuesday, standing by for any possibilities the North could change its mind.

It is unknown why Pyongyang decided to accept South Korean reporters at the last minute.

"The North did not make any reference as to why it accepted (the South's notification)," Baik said.

The foreign journalists who arrived on Tuesday were originally set to take a train to Punggye-ri the same day, but spent the night in Wonsan due to rain. They began live reports at a press center set up there.

The journalists, after seeing the test site shutdown on Thursday or Friday, will return to the Wonsan press center to produce news coverage.

After the event, reporters including the South Koreans will depart from Wonsan for Beijing on Saturday or Sunday.

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