Singapore deports South Korean media as security for Trump and Kim tightens

A handful of other people have also been denied entry in recent days on security grounds

A member of the North Korean media takes a photograph outside the St. Regis hotel, a Marriott Group property, in Singapore, on Sunday, June 10, 2018. Kim Jong Un arrived in Singapore on Sunday, kicking off a landmark trip by the once-reclusive North Korean leader ahead of his historic summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. Photographer: Brent Lewin/Bloomberg

A member of the North Korean media takes a photograph outside the St. Regis hotel in Singapore, on Sunday, June 10. Two staff from South Korea's national broadcaster have been deported from Singapore after they were arrested for trespassing at the home of the North Korean ambassador to the city-state. Brent Lewin / Bloomberg

Reuters

Jun 10, 2018

Two staff from South Korea's national broadcaster have been deported from Singapore after they were arrested for trespassing at the home of the North Korean ambassador to the city state, police said on Sunday.

The news, just days before the high-stakes summit, came as Singapore's home minister said a man had been denied entry to the country on Saturday because he had searched "suicide bombing" on his phone.

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"The visit passes of the two South Korean men have been cancelled, and they have been repatriated to the Republic of Korea on 9 June 2018," police said in a statement on Sunday.

The men were staff of KBS, the national public broadcaster of South Korea that operates radio, television and online services.

Earlier on Sunday, home minister K. Shanmugam said that some people had been prevented from entering Singapore.

"Yesterday, we had someone from a regional country who our Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officers ... when they searched through his hand phone, he had been searching suicide bombing."

Mr Shanmugam said a handful of other people had also been denied entry in recent days on security grounds, but declined to comment further.

The summit will cost about $20 million (Dh73.4m) to host, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told local media on Sunday, a large chunk of that expected to be on security on the highest-profile event the city state has hosted.