Kim Jong Un: S.Korean facilities in Mt. Kumgang resort must be removed -KCNA (updated)

Ananti

22/10/2019 23:14

(Adds tourism background, Rodong Sinmun comment, background on
inter-Korean relations, previous Trump comment)
    By Joyce Lee
    SEOUL, Oct 23 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
said South Korean facilities in the North's Mt Kumgang tourist
resort must be removed and rebuilt in a modern way, state media
reported on Wednesday, underscoring the cooling of relations
between the two countries. 
    Mt Kumgang, along with the Kaesong industrial zone, has been
one of two major inter-Korean economic projects and symbol of
cooperation between the two Koreas during decades of hostilities
following the Korean War. 
    But Kim, while inspecting the tourist spot on the east coast
of North Korea, said it was a "mistaken idea" for Mt Kumgang to
be viewed as a symbol of North-South relations.
    The resort is North Korean soil, and tourism there must not
be under the control of South Korea, Kim said. 
    "We will always welcome our compatriots from the south if
they want to come to Mt Kumgang after it is wonderfully built as
the world-level tourist destination," Kim added. 
    North and South Korea had been exploring the prospect of
re-starting joint economic projects before a recent cooling in
relations. North Korea has criticised the South for adopting
high-tech weapons and continuing joint military drills with the
United States. 
    South Koreans were allowed to visit Mt Kumgang starting in
1998 by sea and from 2003 by land, with South Korean firms such
as Hyundai Asan Corp and Ananti Inc  025980.KQ  investing in the
tourist spot. 
    However, South Korea suspended tours to Mt Kumgang in 2008
after a North Korean soldier shot dead a South Korean tourist
who had wandered unknowingly into a military area. 
    South Korea-funded facilities have remained there since
then, but tours from the South have not resumed amid
international sanctions trying to force North Korea to give up
its nuclear weapons programmes. 
    Only infrequent inter-Korean events, such as reunions of
families separated by the 1950-1953 Korean War, have been held
there since. 
    Kim criticized the "mistaken policy of the predecessors" who
were dependent on others to develop the tourist spot, and said
Mt Kumgang must be taken care of as part of a larger tourist
area that encompasses the mountain and the Wonsan-Kalma coastal
tourist area, KCNA said. 
    Tourism has increasingly became one of the focal industries
not under international sanctions central to Kim's policy of
'self-reliant' economic growth. 
    "The entire people should cherish the belief that
self-reliance is the only way to live," North Korean state
newspaper Rodong Sinmun said in a separate commentary on
Wednesday. "There is nothing more foolish than to expect help
from others today." 
    Kim said North Korea should seek agreement with relevant
South Korean authorities on the removal of the facilities, KCNA
added. 
    The resumption of Mt Kumgang tours has been repeatedly
mentioned as a possibility by South Korean President Moon Jae-in
in recent years. 
    During a summit with Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang in September
2018, Moon and Kim had agreed to normalise Mt Kumgang tours and
the Kaesong industrial complex "as soon as the environment is
created," Moon announced at the time. 
    In April, U.S. President Donald Trump was asked his stance
on the possibility of restarting tours to Mt. Kumgang before a
summit with Moon.
    "This isn’t the right time, but at the right time I’d have
great support," Trump said, according to South Korean
presidential office records.  
    "They have unbelievable location... surrounded by sea on two
sides, the other side Russia, and China and over here SK," Trump
said, referring to North Korea. "You just can’t do better than
that. And they have magnificent land. It has tremendous
potential." 

 (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Sandra Maler and Lincoln
Feast)
 ((jungyoon.lee@tr.com; +82 2 6936 1467;))