[The following is an AP press release dated 29 June 2011. Memos of understanding were signed by Kim Pyong Ho, president of Korean Central News Agency, and AP President and CEO Tom Curley on Tuesday, 28 June 2011 in New York. A series of agreements between the Associated Press and the North Korean state news agency herald the opening of an AP bureau in Pyongyang and deeper photo/video cooperation. The AP bills itself as "the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the largest and most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from AP." --CanKor.]
AP President and CEO Tom Curley with Kim Pyong Ho, President of Korean Central News Agency (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
The Associated Press today announced agreements with the Korea Central News Agency, including one to open an AP news bureau in Pyongyang.
Leaders of the two news organizations held discussions during a New York visit by KCNA executives and this week signed two memos of understanding and a contract.
Under one memo of understanding work begins immediately on discussions aimed at opening an AP bureau in Pyongyang. It would be the first permanent text and photo bureau operated by a Western news organization in the North Korean capital. Five years ago, AP Television News, headquartered in London, became the first Western news organization to establish an office in North Korea.
The second memo of understanding outlines cooperation on journalistic and photo/video technology issues, including a joint photo exhibition by the two agencies in New York next year. Read the rest of this entry »
