Associated Press Opens Office in North Korea

The Associated Press is opening its newest bureau—in North Korea, the news wire service said on Monday.

AP will open its office in the capital, Pyongyang and will be the first Western news bureau to operate inside the isolated, communist country that consistently ranks among the world’s lowest for press freedom.

The move will allow AP writers and photographers to work in the country on a regular basis, the news agency said.

“Everyone at The Associated Press takes his or her responsibilities of a free and fair press with utmost seriousness,” AP President Tom Curley said.

AP already had a video service office in Pyongyang in 2006 and were the first Western media to do so, showing footage of mourners of Kim Jong Il’s death as well as his funeral last month.

“The world knows very little about the DPRK, and this gives us a unique opportunity to bring the world news that it doesn’t now have,” Curley added.

AP has more than 2,500 journalists around the world in 300 locations, and has bureaus operating in more than 100 countries.