Record number of journalist to cover historic summit between Koreas

SEOUL. KAZINFORM - Literally all eyes will likely be on the upcoming summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, with a record number of journalists from around the globe set to cover the event that Moon said could mark the start of the long delayed denuclearization of the communist North, Yonhap reports. 

As of Wednesday, a total of 2,833 journalists from local and foreign news outlets have registered to cover the historic inter-Korean summit slated for next Friday.

Nearly 2,000 journalists from 168 local news outlets have registered for the inter-Korean summit, along with 858 from 180 foreign news outlets, Cheong Wa Dae said in a press release.

The total number is more than twice as high as the number that covered two previous summits between the Koreas held in 2000 and 2007, it noted.

Only a handful of the registered journalists will form a joint press corp that will have the rare chance to witness and report the historical event on site, as the Moon-Kim meeting will be held at the joint security area of Panmunjom inside the heavily fortified demilitarized zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas.

The rest will wait for the outcome of the summit at a national press center to be set up at the KINTEX exhibition and convention center in Goyang, just south of the DMZ. The two Koreas technically remain at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Cheong Wa Dae officials have said the country is seeking to allow live broadcast of at least the opening part of the Moon-Kim summit.

The third inter-Korean summit is set to be held on the South Korean side of the DMZ, which, if held as planned, will make Kim the first North Korean leader to step on South Korean soil since the end of the Korean War.