Author: Anthony Kuhn / Source: NPR.org
Kim Myong Song, a reporter for one of South Korea’s biggest daily newspapers, the Chosun Ilbo, remembers rushing to cover a high-level meeting of North and South Korean officials early one morning in October.
Kim covers the Unification Ministry, which is in charge of inter-Korean relations.
He also happens to be a defector from North Korea.On the way to the bus that would take him to Panmunjom, the border village where the talks were taking place, the ministry called to tell him he had been barred from covering the event.
“I felt so betrayed and angry,” Kim tells NPR. “I could understand it if I was an inexperienced newcomer. But I’ve been covering the ministry for six years.”
The ministry never really explained why it barred Kim. A spokesman simply said the ministry took “necessary steps” because of “the special circumstance.” He also noted that Kim is known for his “active reporting,” without elaborating.
Its actions came at a time when the leaders of the two Koreas seem intent on taking unprecedented steps toward improving relations. The leaders of both countries met three times in 2018. Kim and other defectors believe that their experience of living under the North Korean regime gives them a role to play in this process.
Kim speculates that officials shut him out because they were concerned that having a defector in the room could offend the North Korean officials and derail the talks.
Kim is not the only defector turned journalist in South Korea, but he is the only one covering the Unification Ministry. This is the first known instance of the ministry targeting a specific journalist for exclusion.
“North Korea considers defectors as traitors to the country and the people,” Kim explains, “and they harshly criticize their activities in South Korea.”
Kim says his company has supported him, and he continues to cover the Unification Ministry.
Other journalists, defectors and human rights activists sprang to Kim’s defense and slammed the ministry’s action. Among them was defector Choi Kyong Hui, president of a civic group called South and North Development….
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