Cable TV broadcasters of South Korea are in fierce competition for the best coverage of the summit between the US and North Korea.

On Monday, a day before the historic meeting of the two leaders, KBS, MBC and SBS stations’ crew were seen in Singapore busily preparing at their designated reporting spots.

More attention is given to the summit than the regional elections in Korea which takes place on Wednesday, a day after the summit. 

KBS sent a special reporting team made up of 40 people including 14 reporters. The team will report from the International Media Center, Capella Hotel, the North Korean embassy in Singapore and the US embassy in Singapore, among other places. KBS has set up an outdoor studio on the 21-story rooftop some 4 kilometers away from the Capella, where Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un are set to hold the meeting.

The state-run media outlet was criticized after two of its reporters, who were not accredited as media personnel in Singapore, were arrested on suspicion of trespassing into the residence of the North Korean ambassador to Singapore, Thursday. The reporters were expelled and returned to Korea Saturday night.

MBC, another state-run broadcaster, has sent a bigger team of 50 to Singapore for an overnight live broadcast from the scene on the day of the summit. The main newscasters of MBC’s prime time news program will relay the situation from the Singapore studio. MBC will put up real time Korean translations of the English conversations that will happen in Singapore.

SBS‘s team is some 40 in number, for the 20-hour special live broadcast of the historic summit. The private broadcaster has prepared a joint broadcasting center for reporters from Korea, US and Japan. US’ NBC and Japan’s NTV will work together with SBS to run the special live broadcast.

Other broadcasters such as JTBC is also doing live coverage from the scene with its CEO and main anchorman Sohn Suk-hee.

The Korea Press Center is also ready to provide reporting space for the Korean media at the fourth floor of Swiss Hotel The Stamford‎ with 380 seats.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)