DATE=6/16/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=KOREA SUMMIT / MEDIA (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-263541
BYLINE=ALISHA RYU
DATELINE=HONG KONG
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: South Korean news media gave unprecedented
coverage to the history-making summit between South
Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader
Kim Jong Il this week. But as Alisha Ryu reports from
V-O-A's Asia News Center, the coverage of the summit
enjoyed by democratic South Korea was markedly
different from the way Communist North Korea handled
news about the talks.
TEXT: In South Korea, North Korean leader Kim Jong
Il's surprise greeting of his South Korean counterpart
at Pyongyang airport on Tuesday ignited a frenzy of
reporting that did not relent during the three-day
summit.
Live, unedited television pictures captured every key
moment of the summit -- from the much-talked-about
two-fisted handshake at the airport, to showing the
leaders of a bitterly-divided Korea clasping hands and
bursting into song at the final banquet.
Covering the summit in Seoul for the Washington Post,
journalist Doug Struck says the unexpected good will
between the two rivals whetted South Korea's appetite
for continuous news coverage.
/// STRUCK ACT ///
There was pretty much wall-to-wall coverage on
television, and the newspapers were packed full
of stories about the summit. The local stations
had to re-run a lot of stuff but, given the
interest of their viewership, I imagine that was
the right decision.
/// END ACT ///
Journalists familiar with North Korea say South
Korea's lively reporting style during the talks stood
in stark contrast to the rigid, scripted style of
North Korea's official state media.
The South Korea Herald's S.Y. Chon was one of only 50
South Korean journalists North Korea allowed to
accompany the president for the summit. He says
everything that was shown and written in North Korea
was, not surprisingly, carefully edited before being
presented to the public.
/// FIRST CHON ACT ///
I saw the same pictures, the same articles in
several newspapers. Unlike in the West, they
did not publicize the details of the discussions
the leaders held. I understand they still do
not have an official spokesman in Pyongyang.
/// END ACT ///
Several events were simply omitted in North Korean
media -- such as the visit by South Korea's first lady
to a Pyongyang elementary school. Not a single North
Korean saw the two leaders casually exchanging jokes
during a news conference - a sight that charmed most
South Koreans.
But Mr. Chon says he was nevertheless deeply impressed
by the coverage North Korea did give to the summit.
North Koreans may not have heard South Korean
President Kim's stirring speech about unity or
reconciliation. But Mr. Chon says what the North
heard and saw was much more than it has ever been
exposed to before.
/// SECOND CHON ACT ///
Given what I saw and read, I believe that North
Koreans might not know as much as South Korea,
but they were given much more information about
President Kim's trip than any event going on in
Pyongyang or with their leaders. I was
surprised.
/// END ACT ///
The landmark summit ended on Thursday,with both sides
agreeing to work toward reconciliation and eventual
reunification. (Signed)
NEB/HK/AR/JO/WTW
16-Jun-2000 06:49 AM EDT (16-Jun-2000 1049 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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