Politics
17:59, 21-May-2018
DPRK refuses to grant ROK reporters access to nuke site dismantlement
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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday refused to receive a list of Republic of Korea (ROK) journalists who would witness the dismantlement of its nuclear test site, Seoul's unification ministry said.
Unification Ministry spokesman Baik Tae-hyun told a press briefing that the ROK side tried to send the list of journalists who will witness the dismantlement of the DPRK's Punggye-ri nuclear test site via the communications hotline at the border village of Panmunjom.
CGTN Photo
CGTN Photo
The DPRK side continued to deny receiving the list, clouding the ROK journalists' participation in the coverage of the dismantlement scheduled for Wednesday to Friday, the spokesman said.
Pyongyang has not responded to the unification ministry's comments.
On May 12, the DPRK invited journalists from China, Russia, the United States, Britain and ROK to cover the dismantlement of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, where Pyongyang conducted all of its six nuclear tests.
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DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and ROK President Moon Jae-in walk together on a bridge at the truce village of Panmunjom during their first summit, April 27, 2018. /Reuters Photo
DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and ROK President Moon Jae-in walk together on a bridge at the truce village of Panmunjom during their first summit, April 27, 2018. /Reuters Photo
The DPRK's refusal came after Pyongyang canceled high-level talks with Seoul last week over ROK-US air combat exercises, codenamed Max Thunder. The country later claimed that it may "reconsider" the highly anticipated Kim – Trump summit.
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The air drills allegedly involve about 100 aircrafts, including the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets. The radar-evading fighters are mobilized usually for an attack purpose.
ROK's defense ministry claimed that the air drills are defensive in nature.
Source(s): Xinhua News Agency