Foreign reporters head to North Korea to witness nuke site dismantlement

  • 6 years ago
A group of international reporters, invited by North Korea to witness its dismantlement of the regime nuclear test site, are now in Wonsan... after boarding a flight to the North from Beijing this morning.
Unable to get visas from the North, eight South Korean reporters were left behind.
Lee Ji-won has more.

Filled with curiosity and perhaps a tinge of apprehension about what's going to unfold over the next few days,... the group of international reporters arrived at North Korea's Wonsan Kalma Airport from Beijing on Tuesday morning.
The group includes journalists from American news network CNN, Britain's Sky News, China's CCTV and Russia's Tass News Agency.

"This is my 18th trip to North Korea, but this one is very unique. It's the first time we're not going to Pyongyang, we're going to Wonsan this time. So it should be interesting."

However, the South Korean reporters -- initially invited as well -- were left at the airport in Beijing after the North did not process their visa applications in time.
Despite Seoul's efforts to contact the North through the Panmunjom channel early Tuesday, a South Korean official revealed the North said "they had not been given an order" in regards to the visas.
In a statement Tuesday,... Seoul's Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said he felt sorry the South Korean reporters couldn't travel to the North despite Pyongyang's initial invitation.
Even so, the South Korean minister said Seoul sees the dismantlement of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site as part of the North's efforts to denuclearize and that he hopes it could lead to a successful Pyongyang-Washington summit next month.
He also expressed hope North Korea is taking concrete steps toward denuclearization and to establish peace on the Korean peninsula,.. adding that Seoul will try to work closely with Pyongyang.
North Korea's inaction on the visas comes as the regime criticized Seoul last week for holding joint military drills with the U.S. and for allowing a former North Korean diplomat who defected to the South to blast the regime during a press session at South Korea's National Assembly.
Left stranded at the airport,... the South Korean reporters are scheduled to return to Seoul on Wednesday.
The reporters who were granted entry to the North will stay in their accommodation in Wonsan until they take a train to the Punggye-ri nuclear test site on an... as yet... unspecified day between Wednesday and Friday.
They are expected to return to Beijing on Saturday or Sunday.
Lee Ji-won, Arirang News.

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