North Korea has, once again, refused to receive a list of South Korean journalists to attend the dismantlement of the regime's main nuclear test site.

The Unification Ministry in Seoul said it sent the North a telephone message containing its list of eight journalists through a liaison channel at the truce village of Panmunjeom on Monday, but the North did not take it before the liaison channel closed at 4 p.m. The ministry made an initial unsuccessful attempt last Friday. 

The South Korean ministry said it is difficult to predict whether the North will carry out the event only with the attendance of reporters from four other foreign countries, but it expects the event to go ahead as planned. 

In regards to a foreign media report that the North demanded ten-thousand U.S. dollars from each invited foreign reporter for a visa to cover the event, the ministry said Seoul did not receive such a request from Pyongyang. 

While the North remains silent on the South Korean journalists, satellite imagery shows preparations for the dismantlement event are under way.

The South Korean press corps arrived in Beijing on Monday as planned. They requested the North Korean Embassy in Beijing to take the required consular steps to allow them to visit the North, but it is possible they will be rejected.

North Korea said earlier this month that it would publicly dismantle its Punggye-ri nuclear test site between May 23th and 25th and invite journalists from the United States, South Korea, China, Russia and Britain to witness the process. The North said the invited reporters will gather together in Beijing first before flying to the North. 

[Photo : YONHAP News]