Leaders of the two news organizations held discussions during a New York visit by KCNA executives and this week signed two memos of understanding and a contract.
(Pictured: Democratic People's Republic of Korea's Kim Pyong Ho, President of Korean Central News Agency, right, exchanges an agreement during an official signing with Associated Press President and CEO Tom Curley Tuesday, June 28, 2011 in New York. AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Under one memo of understanding work begins immediately on discussions aimed at opening an Associated Press bureau in Pyongyang. It would be the first permanent text and photo bureau operated by a Western news organization in the North Korean capital. Five years ago, AP Television News, headquartered in London, became the first Western news organization to establish an office in North Korea.
The second memo of understanding outlines cooperation on journalistic and photo/video technology issues, including a joint photo exhibition by the two agencies in New York next year.
The contract signed this week designates AP as the exclusive distributor of contemporary and historic video from KCNA’s archive, providing a new source of video content from North Korea to AP’s members and customers around the world.
"This agreement between AP and KCNA is historic and significant,” said AP President and CEO Tom Curley. “AP is once again being trusted to open a door to better understanding between a nation and the world. We are grateful for this opportunity and look forward to providing coverage for AP’s global audience in our usually reliable and insightful way."
Kim Pyong Ho, president of KCNA, said: "I hope this agreement contributes not only to the strengthening of relations between our two news agencies but also to the better understanding between the peoples of our two countries and the improvement of the DPRK-U.S. relations.”
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the formal name of the state.
President Kim led a delegation of KCNA executives on a visit to AP’s New York headquarters. Last March, Curley and Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll, along with Senior Managing Editor for International News John Daniszewski, traveled to Pyongyang.
AP Seoul Bureau Chief Jean H. Lee and Chief Asia Photographer David Guttenfelder have made several extensive reporting trips to North Korea in the past several months, resulting in unprecedented coverage of the country and its people.
The AP operates from 300 locations in more than 100 countries.
