A Panmunjeom press tour is held for more than 300 journalists in Paju, Gyeonggi-do Province, on April 18, the venue for the scheduled April 27 Inter-Korean Summit.
By Min Yea-ji and Hahm Hee-eun
Photo = Jeon Han
As global interest in the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit grows, the number of journalists heading to Seoul has reached a new high.
According to the Preparatory Committee for the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit, a total of 2,833 reporters have registered at its website (www.koreasummit.kr) between April 9 and 17. This includes the largest number of non-Korean journalists to ever attend a government event. This number is also more than twice the number of Korean and non-Korean journalists who signed up for credentials for either the first Inter-Korean Summit in 2000 (1,315) or for the second Inter-Korean Summit in 2007 (1,392).
In total, there are 1,975 journalists from 168 Korean media outlets and 858 journalists from 180 non-Korean media outlets, and those are from 34 countries. Among the 34 countries, 15 of them, including Austria, Canada and Iran, were not represented at either of the former Inter-Korean Summits in 2000 and 2007, and this will be the first time for a media outlet from those countries to attend an Inter-Korean Summit.
In order to handle the largest number of non-Korean journalists to ever attend a government event, the government has prepared real-time coverage, a “Smart Press Center,” and has prepped both virtual reality (VR) and 5G services.
Panmunjeom, where the summit will be held, is connected to the Ilsan main press center and various websites, so that the non-Korean journalists can receive their schedules, articles, photos and videos in real-time on the day of the summit. The website’s available in nine languages, including English, simplified Chinese, Arabic and Spanish.
Moreover, the Panmunjeom briefing room will provide a real-time 360-degree video so that non-Korean journalists will be able to experience the summit as if they were actually in the room. Multiple videos on related topics, including the former Inter-Korean Summits as well as Korean arts, heritage and traditions, can be selected and viewed simultaneously through a 200-inch large-screen monitor.
Previously, more than 100 non-Korean journalists, including CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour, attended a briefing session at the Seoul Press Center on April 17.
