Kim Jong-un has offered to be interviewed by major western media outlets for a fee of $1 million during his nation’s armistice day celebration later this month.
North Korea has invited a large number of foreign reporters to attend its July 27 celebration of the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, an occasion it calls “Victory Day”. The invitation to news organizations like BBC, Kyodo News and the AP include an offer to allow personal interviews of Kim Jong-un for a fee of $1 million.
This is the first time that a sitting head of state has demanded a fee for media interviews, and provoked fresh speculation about the acute foreign-exchange shortage that the reclusive nation is likely to be suffering after the UN imposed stringent new economic sanctions to punish Pyongyang’s missile launch in December and nuclear test in February.
Observers see some likelihood that a small number of major news organizations may agree to pay the fee in hopes of getting a high-profile exclusive that could end the subdued tone that has recently descended over N. Korea coverage. Kim Jong-un has never been interviewed by foreign journalists.
Foreign journalists are scheduled to begin arriving in Pyongyang on Thursday. They are expected to be joined by some of the several thousand foreign dignitaries who have also been invited to observe the celebration.
