The unification ministry said North Korea accepted the list of South Korean reporters chosen to cover the dismantlement of the North's nuclear test site on Wednesday, allowing the media to travel to the North to witness the high-profile demolition event.
According to the government, the ministry handed over the list of journalists to the North through the communication channel at Panmunjom at 0900 hours local time and North Korea accepted it. The ministry said in a message sent to reporters, the government will take necessary stps with regard to the North's permission of the press trip to the North.
Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told reporters during a regular press briefing, that the journalists will depart for the North's eastern city of Wosan at 1230 hours from an airport in Seongnam, south of Seoul, flying on an arranged state-owned airplane and returning home together with other foreign reporters via Beijing. They were selected as pool reporters for the South Korean media ahead of the ceremony that the North is planning to host this week.
The date has yet to be confirmed but it is expected to happen between Wednesday and Friday, depending on local weather conditions.
Meanwhile, shortly before the meeting the leaders of South Korea and United States, President Donald Trump expressed that he is not hung up on whether or not the Washington-Pyongyang summit will take place next month.
Trump's remarks come amid North Korea's recent threat to cancel the summit if the US continues its "one-sided" affair of pressuring Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear program. However, Trump said he thinks the scheduled meeting with Kim Jong-un will be a great meeting for North Korea and the world.
He said the US is continuing talks with North Korea and that it is up to the regime to seize the opportunity to become a great country, also telling reporters that they will know pretty soon whether or not the meeting with North Korea will carry on. President Moon insisted there is no reason to doubt North Korea's willingness to hold a summit with the US.
Soon after the private session, President Moon's chief press secretary briefed reporters on the results of the bilateral summit, saying they agreed to cooperate to hold the Singapore summit as planned.
On a related note, US President Donald Trump has once again reiterated his stance on North Korea's denuclearization. During his press conference with South Korean leader Moon Jae-in, President Trump said that, should Kim Jong-un decide on Complete, Verifiable, Irreversible Denuclearization, his regime will be well-protected with economic rewards.
During a briefing following the White House meeting, top presidential press secretary Yoon Young-chan said stabilizing the North Korean regime was a key agenda during the Moon-Trump talks, and that President Moon called for practical and specific solutions.
He also said the two leaders discussed ways on how the two Koreas and the United States should declare a permanent end to the Korean War, as agreed upon in the Panmunjom Declaration.
Source: Arirang News
No comments:
Post a Comment