N. Korea should allow more Western press
A series of agreements signed last week between the Associated Press (AP) and the North Korean state news agency are expected to allow the Western media easier access to the reclusive communist state. A key point of the accords is to allow AP to set up a comprehensive news bureau in Pyongyang.
We hope that an AP bureau, if opened as planned, will serve as a conduit of providing the world with detailed information and vivid news about the North. AP currently operates a video news bureau that opened in the North’s capital in 2006. The new bureau is to enable AP text and photo journalists to work in the North.
AP’s agreements with the (North) Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) will expand its presence in North Korea to a level unmatched by any other Western news organizations. Certainly, AP will emerge as the first Western news outlet to have a permanent text and photo bureau in Pyongyang.
AP’s expanded presence and its cooperation with the KCNA are meaningful, given the complicated geopolitical situations on the Korean Peninsula. AP President and CEO Tom Curley said, “AP is once again being trusted to open a door to better understanding between a nation and the world.”
North Korea has reportedly paid a lot of attention to strike the deal with AP. KCNA President Kim Pyong-ho expressed his hope that the agreements will contribute not only to cementing ties between the two news agencies but also to improving relations between the two countries.
It can be inferred that the North appears to send a strong message to the U.S. that the world’s last Stalinist country wants to mend ties with America possibly through direct contact.
Beyond the political implications, the soon-to-be-created AP bureau in Pyongyang will serve as an opportunity for the North to allow more Western press there. Russia’s ITAR-Tass and China’s official Xinhua News Agency have long maintained their presence in the North. Japan’s Kyodo News opened its bureau in Pyongyang in 2006, but its activity is in the doldrums.
AP faces many challenges as the North’s military regime firmly controls the media, suppressing freedom of press. Therefore, what’s at stake is to gain a certain degree of free coverage, if not unrestricted access to all information sources in the isolated state. It is still too early to expect South Korean news organizations to set up their presence in the North.
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