(EDITORIAL from Korea Times on April 21)
Moon holds timely meeting with media leaders
President Moon Jae-in held a meeting with CEOs of local media outlets Thursday at Cheong Wa Dae ahead of the April 27 inter-Korean summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
It was the first time for the President to host media CEOs at Cheong Wa Dae in 18 years. The last was on June 19, 2000, shortly after the first inter-Korean summit between former President Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il, the incumbent North Korean leader's father.
The timely meeting reflects Moon's willingness to exchange ideas with the media on the upcoming summit which is hugely different from the previous ones held in 2000 and 2007. The summit will take place at Panmunjeom, where the 1953 armistice was signed. Previous summits took place in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. Calling the media a "partner" in the upcoming summit, President Moon asked for the media's advice and cooperation in informing people within and outside Korea about the summit's achievements.
The President also mentioned the media's peace-making role before and after the first inter-Korean summit in 2000. In the late 1990s, there was a series of media exchanges between the two Koreas and media leaders visited North Korea in August 2000.
There is intense media attention on the third inter-Korean summit. According to the organizing committee, 1,975 reporters from 168 domestic news outlets, in addition to 858 reporters from 180 outlets in 34 countries, have registered to cover the summit. That is a record number of journalists covering an inter-Korean summit, showing the world's keen interest in the Moon-Kim meeting.
Cheong Wa Dae has done a fair job of informing the media about the preparations. The presidential office has been holding regular briefings on the preparations and opened the website koreasummit.kr bearing the summit's slogan "Peace, a New Start." The website has versions in English, Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, Russian, French, German, Japanese and Vietnamese and contains useful information and in-depth analysis on inter-Korean relations by global experts.
The Moon administration is also doing a good job informing the international press about the summit. Culture Minister Do Jong-whan held a meeting with foreign journalists at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents' Club on Tuesday.
We hope to see the President engaging more actively with the domestic and foreign press as international diplomacy toward North Korea's denuclearization unfolds in the coming months.
The President's meeting with the media leaders should be the start of a more active exchange of ideas and suggestions for crucial state affairs with various sectors. This will certainly enhance the people's understanding of his policies and goals.
(END)
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