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The Daily North
Korea, South Korea
Associated
Press Independence in Doubt after 'Deal' with North Korean Regime
"Their
intention is to aggressively promote an image of peace by accepting media from
the Western world … there is an element of desperation in the desire to show
the West that the Kim Jong-un regime is stable … The North Korean authorities
will only permit the release of information that it wants to be reported."
-- Choi Jin-wook, senior
researcher at the Korean Institute of National Unification
By Cho Jong-ik
January 18, 2012
South Korea - The Daily North Korea - Original
Article (English)
North Korea's decision to
allow the Associated
Press to set up a bureau in Pyongyang is attracting attention. Although
Chinese agencies Xinhua and the People’s Daily as well as Russian
media giant ITAR-TASS already have offices in Pyongyang, the AP
is the first Western media outlet ever allowed to establish an office inside
the country.
Holding a ceremony on January
16th with Korean Central News Agency President Kim Byung-ho to
commemorate the opening, AP President Tom Curley promised to issue
reports on North Korea based on fairness, balance and accuracy. Curley said, “We
will do our best to accurately reflect the people of the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea as well as what they do and say.”
Some see the decision by
North Korea to open up to Western media as significant, noting the potential
risks to the regime and the fact that in the past, Pyongyang has strictly
forbidden Western media. Others believe the gesture is a sign to the outside
world that fair reporting from North Korea is possible. It may even reveal its
desire to get remove itself from the very bottom of the Reporters Sans Frontieres Press Freedom Index.
Since its inception in 2002, North Korea has never been rated higher than
second to last in the world.
Another view is that this new
geniality toward the American press is the first move in a charm-offensive
designed to kick-start the regime's engagement with foreign donors, hoping that
it could lead to food aid and better relations with the United States.
Yet another view is that the
move is an expression of confidence in the durability of the regime - in effect
declaring that the comings and goings from the country of Western media pose little
serious threat.
Choi Jin-wook, senior
researcher at the Korean Institute of National Unification, offered the Daily
NK his view, saying, “Their intention is to aggressively promote an image
of peace by accepting media from the Western world.” Choi added that, “there is
an element of desperation in the desire to show the West that the Kim Jong-un
regime is stable.”
Choi noted that after
allowing Western journalists to report on the country's hunger crisis in 1995, North
Korea received food aid from the United States. “They are hoping to use the AP
to turn around their fortunes like they did back then,” he said.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
Despite the AP’s
success gaining a foothold in the country, North Korean media has traditionally
only served to propagandize and lobby for Kim Jong-il's policies and glorify
the Kim family. Content in the North's media, before it is released, first undergoes
direction and instruction from the Korean Workers' Party Central Propaganda Department.
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For this reason, it is widely
assumed that the AP will be able to report only within the narrow confines
set by North Korean authorities. In other words, it will be difficult for the AP
to properly report on the voices of the North Korean public and other facts on
the ground. Choi predicts, “The North Korean authorities will only permit the
release of information that it wants to be reported.”
Jang Hae-seong, who was once
a journalist in the KCNA’s political department, said “Foreign media will of
course be subjected to inspections and controls, and have their freedom of
movement restricted. … Chinese and Russian media are not subjected to such inspections,
yet Western media will only be able to gather news where North Korean security
agents are willing to take them.”
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