As if this is news

AP credibly reports that Olympic torch relay begins North Korea leg free of protest as if this were a legitimate news story.

On the one hand, if it were not true, any journalist who dared to report such news to the outside world would be imprisoned on some kind of fake espionage charges, if he even managed to survive.

On the other hand, it almost certainly is true, as any protester (and most if not all of his family) would be imprisoned, tortured, and killed.

So why does the AP (and other news media, to be fair, this was just a convenient link) report this as if it is an actual news story?