AP bureau opening in Pyongyang unclear so far - AP chief

PYONGYANG, March 11 (Itar-Tass) - It is premature so far to speak
about the opening of the Associated Press bureau in North Korea, CEO of
this news agency Thomas Curley who is on a visit here, told Itar-Tass in
an exclusive interview.
"It was our first step, we are inspired by the meetings results, and
we hope to advance in this sphere," he said. Curley noted that he is
"fully satisfied with the results of the visit." "We had an excellent
opportunity to meet people and see the sights," he said. The AP chief
liked Pyongyang with its numerous parks, as well as Korean cuisine. "Now
it is difficult, travelling around the world, to find such a beautiful and
unique place," he stressed.
After the arrival in Pyongyang on Tuesday, the American delegation
laid flowers at the Monument to DPRK Fonder Kim Il Sung, visited the Juche
Idea Monument (Juche Tower), the Grand People's Study House, the Arc of
Triumph, attended a concert of the State Symphony Orchestra.
According to the South Korean Yonhap news agency, the Associated
Press, one of the main news agencies in the United States, has asked North
Korean authorities to help it open a bureau in Pyongyang, a news report
claimed Thursday. A delegation for AP, headed by its President and CEO
Thomas Curley, made the request during its ongoing visit to Pyongyang. An
informed Korean source said that the AP delegation said opening a
Pyongyang bureau "would make it possible to create in the United States an
objective and truthful picture of events" taking place in the communist
regime. "However, there is no clarity so far on the issue of opening of
the AP office," the source said.
North Korea's state media reported briefly on Tuesday of the arrival
of the AP delegation, but didn't elaborate on why AP was visiting and how
long its delegation would stay.
A source in Seoul had earlier told Yonhap News Agency that Curley is
scheduled to stay in Pyongyang until Friday and his visit may be aimed at
trying to set up a news bureau in the reclusive state.
Among foreign news agencies, only Itar-Tass and China's Xinhua have
bureaus in Pyongyang, while a journalist from the People's Daily newspaper
of China is also based there. Officials from Reuters, the London-based
news agency, also visited Pyongyang earlier with a similar request.
AP Television News, the international video division of AP, opened a
full-time office in Pyongyang in 2006, making it the first Western news
organisation to establish a permanent presence in North Korea. The
Pyongyang office of APTN currently provides only video images.