A few foreign reporters said they had been turned back.
"Why don't you ask another question," he said to several foreign reporters trying to piece together an account of what happened.
The area has been closed to foreign reporters since February.
Citizens can go to prison here for talking to foreign reporters.
A handful of foreign reporters were also allowed in the room.
"I received her because she asked for an audience," he said in an interview with foreign reporters.
And with many foreign reporters on the beach, officials said it was difficult if not impossible to control the situation from Washington.
The entire region has been closed to foreign reporters since February.
The information was disclosed to foreign and Soviet reporters two weeks ago.
"There is uncertainty about the future," he told a group of foreign reporters.