His Excellency Kim Jong Il
Chairman of the National Defence Commission
Supreme People’s Assembly
Pyongyang
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
Vienna, 28 June 2000
Your Excellency,
The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and media executives, condemns the refusal by North Korean authorities to allow Chosun Ilbo journalist Kim In-gu to enter North Korea.
According to our sources, Kim In-gu had obtained a permit to be part of the press pool set to cover the Red Cross negotiations at Mount Keumgang on 28 June, aimed at reuniting families separated by the Korean War. However, after the cruise ship, on which the press pool travelled, arrived at Changjon Harbour, Kim In-gu was prevented from disembarking by North Korean immigrant officials. Kim In-gu was the only journalist in the pool denied this right.
This action was taken in spite of the fact that, on 24 June, the Northern administration had been furnished with the personal details of all sixteen members of the Southern delegation, including Kim In-gu, and had sent South Korea written assurances of their “personal security.”
It is our belief that this incident is directly related to the reporting and editorial policy of Kim In-gu’s paper, the South Korean daily Chosun Ilbo. “Critical reporting” on the part of the Chosun Ilbo was among the reasons cited for the denial of entry into the North of another journalist from the newspaper at the Pyongyang summit. That incident was resolved, and the reporter allowed into the country, only after the insistence of President Kim Dae-Jung and other high-ranking officials. According to our information an official from the Ministry of Unification has unsuccessfully tried to contact the North in order to secure free entrance for Kim In-gu.
IPI believes that the government action against Kim In-gu is an outright violation of everyone’s right to “seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers” as guaranteed by Article 19 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. May I also respectfully remind His Excellency that the 15 June Joint Declaration signed by the two Koreas included a promise to recognise each other’s differences. In this case difference of opinion seems to be the reason for Kim In-gu’s denial of entry at Mount Keumgang.
IPI urges Your Excellency to take all the necessary actions to ensure Kim In-gu’s immediate acceptance into North Korea. Furthermore, IPI urges Your Excellency to do everything in your power to ensure that all journalists are allowed to objectively report on developments in your country.
Yours sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director