By Kim Rahn
A high-ranking North Korean official has apologized for preventing South Korean journalists from covering Sunday's concert put on by South Korean performers in Pyongyang, according to pool reporters, Monday.
Kim Yong-chol, head of the Workers' Party of Korea's United Front Department, came to the hotel where South Korean journalists were staying and apologized for the coverage ban which took place the previous evening.
There were always minor troubles when South Koreans performed in North Korea, but this was the first time for a ranking official to make an apology.
The previous evening, the journalists were moved to a waiting room in the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre after the performers' rehearsal. But until the concert was over, they were not allowed to enter the concert hall except for one photographer, so they had to write their stories by watching the show on a monitor in a dressing room.
"We invited you, South Korean journalists, to North Korea and we are obliged to guarantee free coverage," Kim told them during a 16-minute meeting. "It was wrong to restrict your coverage."
Along with the journalists, South Korean Culture Minister Do Jong-hwan, National Intelligence Service Deputy Director Kim Sang-gyun, and senior Cheong Wa Dae official Yun Kun-young were at the meeting.
"In front of you, journalists, and minister, I, representing the North, offer an apology, or understanding, for the wrong thing," Kim Yong-chol said.
He also gave a detailed explanation as to why the coverage ban took place and promised to prevent such things from recurring.
Saying he seeks their understanding, Kim said that along with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's attendance at the concert, there was a lack of coordination between those in charge of guarding him and those organizing the concert.
The guards were ordered to prevent South Korean journalists from approaching the second floor of the hall where Kim would sit, but some of them misunderstood that to mean the journalists were not allowed to enter the entire hall, he said.
"We did not intend to prevent your activities," Kim Yong-chol said, adding that he understands how disappointed the South Korean journalists were for not covering the concert.
"You are guests we invited, and we promise such things will not happen again," Kim said.
Meanwhile, when introducing himself to the journalists, Kim said, "I'm Kim Yong-chol, the one who South Korea calls the main culprit for the sinking of th frigate Cheonan."
As the head of the United Front Department, Kim is suspected of having orchestrated a torpedo attack on the South Korean Navy frigate that killed 46 sailors. Because of the suspicion, when he came to the South at the end of February to attend the closing ceremony of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, controversy arose whether it was proper for him to visit the South.
