ZCZC
BFF-36
SINGAPORE-US-NKOREA-DIPLOMACY-MEDIA
S. Korea media held for trespass into N. Korea envoy residence
SINGAPORE, June 8, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Two South Korean media staff have been
arrested for alleged illegal entry into the North Korean ambassador’s
residence in Singapore, police said Friday, days before the US and North’s
leaders meet in the city-state.
The detained men work for South Korea’s national broadcaster, Korean
Broadcasting System (KBS) News, and were arrested on Thursday, said a police
statement.
Some 3,000 journalists are expected to descend on Singapore for the
historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim
Jong Un on Tuesday.
The two arrested men, aged 42 and 45, are accused of criminal trespass
which carries a maximum penalty of three months in prison or a fine of
Sg$1,500 ($1,100), or both.
Another two South Korean men, one who worked for KBS and a second who was a
guide and interpreter for the group, are under investigation.
The police said that none of the KBS employees were accredited media in
Singapore.
Police warned that journalists who break Singapore’s laws will “not be
accredited, and thus will not be able to cover, the summit between the United
States of America and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North
Korea)”.
Huge numbers of police will be deployed for the summit.
In 2015, a man was shot dead by police when he tried to crash through a
security barrier near the Shangri-La Hotel, which had been hosting a security
summit attended by then US defence secretary Ashton Carter.
Drugs were subsequently found inside the car and authorities ruled out
terrorism.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1445 hrs