Special Interviews for 2018 Inter-Korean Summit (1): Tim Shorrock, U.S. investigative journalist

With the historic Inter-Korean Summit just around the corner, the Korea Center for Investigative Journalism (KCIJ)-Newstapa interviewed Tim Shorrock, a U.S.-based investigative journalist specializing in Korea-related issues, to hear his take on the summit’s meaning, prospects and future tasks.

Shorrock evaluated that President Moon Jae-in was able to arrange the inter-Korean summit by adhering to a well-experienced and balanced diplomacy with North Korea and the United States, while sticking to his own principle, at the interview held on April 18 at the National Press Club in Washington D.C.

He viewed that the summit will be a historic turning point in the peace process in the Korean Peninsula, and a touchstone of the upcoming U.S.-North Korea Summit, which is scheduled for about a month later.

As for the U.S.-North Korea summit, Shorrock said that it’s not easy for him to grasp President Donald Trump’s take about this summit as he is a somewhat unpredictable figure. He, however, viewed that Trump seems to have aimed to leave a historic legacy by settling a peace agreement with North Korea.

He also criticized U.S. media for publishing North Korea-related stories with highly biased and prejudiced perspectives. In particular, he pointed out the fact that major U.S. news outlets have delivered one-sided perspective on inter-Korean and U.S.-North Korea relation issues to American audience by only reflecting views of those hardliners’ as major sources in their stories. News stories about the Korean Peninsula should be written with deep understanding about its history behind the division and reflect more voices of Koreans, he emphasized.

Shorrock has contributed stories about Korean peninsula-related issues to liberal news outlets in the U.S. including The Nation, as well as KCIJ-Newstapa.