Defector-turned-journalist excluded from media pool covering talks with North Korea
Kim Myeong-sung
South Korea's unification ministry has excluded a North Korean defector-turned-journalist from joining pool reporters for Monday's high-level talks with the North.
Citing safety concerns and other "special" circumstances, the ministry earlier decided to exclude Kim Myeong-sung of the Chosun Ilbo, a local daily newspaper, from the group of reporters to be sent to the truce village of Panmunjom for the high-level talks with North Korea.
Kim has worked for the country's largest-circulation newspaper for years and is currently covering the unification ministry that handles inter-Korean affairs.
"High-level talks are held in a confined space, and Kim is widely known for his active reporting. We are asking for cooperation since the decision is deemed necessary under such special circumstances, rather than trying to restrict the press," Baik Tae-hyun, ministry spokesman, told reporters.
The spokesman added that there had been no objection from the North about the reporter and that the ministry made the decision on its own by taking into account various factors.
Asked if his exclusion means defectors-turned-journalists can no longer cover inter-Korean talks, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told reporters before leaving for Panmunjom that he could not answer such an assumption-based question.
The ministry's decision, however, is drawing strong protests from the press corps as it was made at the last moment without sufficient consultations with reporters in advance.
The move is also raising eyebrows as it could be seen as an action focusing too much on how the North reacts rather than protecting freedom of the press.
The press corps of the unification ministry chooses pool reporters for inter-Korean events based on predetermined orders.
Monday's talks will be held on the southern side of Panmunjom inside the heavily fortified demilitarized zone that bisects the two Koreas, which technically remain at war as the 1950-53 war ended only with an armistice, not a peace treaty.
About 30,000 North Korean defectors have came to South Korea so far. (Yonhap)