Officials of South Korean broadcaster JTBC to visit North Korea to discuss 'Pyongyang bureau'
By Park Si-soo
Eight officials of South Korean TV station JTBC will visit North Korea's capital Pyongyang next week to discuss inter-Korean exchange in the field of media and the opening of the broadcaster's bureau there.
It will become the first case of inter-Korean cooperation in media since inter-Korean military tension subsided early this year.
Seoul's unification ministry approved their visit to the North late Friday. The ministry's approval is a must for South Korean citizens to visit the North since the two Koreas are technically still at war with each other because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
The ministry said the JTBC delegation, headed by its newsroom managing director Kwon Suk-chun, will visit the North from July 9 to 12, during which time they will meet with North Korean broadcasters and officials from the National Reconciliation Council, which invited the delegation to the North.
The purpose of the visit is to discuss “inter-Korean exchange in the field of media and JTBC's opening of a Pyongyang bureau,” said the ministry in a message sent to reporters. It didn't give further details.
JTBC played a critical role in bringing down scandal-hit conservative President Park Geun-hye in 2017. Moon Jae-in won the presidency in the presidential by-election conducted after Park's ouster.