South Korean Minister of Unification Cho Myoung-gyon on Monday evening said the move by Seoul earlier in the day to block a defector journalist from joining the press pool for today’s inter-Korean talks was "regrettable."

Kim Myong-song, who covers the DPRK for South Korea's conservative Chosun Ilbo newspaper and is originally from North Korea, was told earlier in the day that his request to join the official press pool covering Monday's inter-Korean talks had been rejected.