Despite its boasting a much ballyhooed Pyongyang bureau, the Associated Press filed its report on the supposed fire at the iconic Koryo Hotel in the North Korean capital last week from its. . .Tokyo bureau. It appears that no AP reporters in North Korea have contributed reporting on the fire – this despite the fact that they actually live in the Koryo when they’re in the country.
The AP has come under fire in this magazine and elsewhere for apparently ceding control of its Pyongyang “news bureau” to the North Korean authorities. That the AP bureau would not report on the fire at the famous hotel—just as the official North Korean media hasn’t—will not do much to allay those concerns.
