News outlets didn't ignore Korean leaders' historic summit. A video of the meeting is 5 years old
World
News outlets didn’t ignore Korean leaders’ historic summit. A video of the meeting is 5 years old
NEW YORK (AP) - CLAIM: A new video shows a historic meeting between the leaders of North Korea and South Korea at their border, but the mainstream media isn’t covering it.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The clip is more than five years old and shows a moment that was captured by news outlets from across the world.
THE FACTS: A popular social media post claims news outlets are so transfixed by conflicts roiling the world that they’re ignoring a momentous moment in global peace and diplomacy: a meeting of the two rival leaders of the Koreas.
The post includes a video that shows the leaders of North Korea and South Korea smiling as they shake hands and walk together along the demilitarized zone separating the nations.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is seen in the short clip first, walking down a large flight of steps with a phalanx of security guards in tow as he makes his way to his South Korean counterpart, who stands waiting at the demarcation line that has divided the two nations for generations.
The South Korean leader then steps over a line marking the border into North Korea before the two walk across the line together into South Korea.
“New history: Kim Jong Un shakes hands with South Korean leader as they both cross borders for the first time,” reads the text over the video that was widely shared on TikTok and other social media platforms in recent days.
“History made again. This gave me chills,” reads a caption above the post on Facebook, which has been liked more than 17,000 times. “You won’t see this on the television or hear about it on the radio. We the people all across the [world] want peace not war!”
But the historic moment isn’t new: it happened in 2018 and didn’t go unnoticed by news outlets at the time.
The Associated Press and many other media companies covered the fateful day, which marked the first time a North Korean leader crossed into South Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953, which separated the once-united country.
In fact, the widely shared clip comes from The Guardian’s coverage of the April 26, 2018, meeting. The British news outlet’s logo is clearly seen at the start of the video.
At one point in the video, the two leaders can even be seen holding their pose and smiling for the cameras as they shake hands.
FILE - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un crossed on foot the military demarcation line in Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) for historic talks with South Korean President Moon-Jae-in on Friday, April 26, 2018.
The meeting took place in Panmunjom, the village in the demilitarized zone, or DMZ, where the armistice ending the Korean War was signed decades ago.
The carefully coordinated interactions between Kim and then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in were captured in photos and videos, though their private conversations were largely inaudible, the AP reported at the time.
The two chatted while strolling slowly on a bright blue footbridge and sat down for more formal talks at the Peace House, a conference venue built on the South Korean side to host such high-level meetings between the two nations.
In front of government officials and the international press, the leaders then signed the Panmunjom Declaration, a joint statement on improving inter-Korean relations and officially putting an end to the Korean War, AP reported.
