North Korea to stop tourism
2010-03-04 20:27
Seoul - North Korea on Thursday threatened to tear up all tourism agreements and contracts with South Korea unless the Seoul government lifts its embargo on tours to the North, according to state media.
Pyongyang said it would revoke all inter-Korean accords and contracts on tours unless South Korea takes quick action to resume tour programmes suspended two years ago after North Korean soldiers shot dead a Seoul tourist.
North Korea would open the border to receive South Korean tourists this month and in April while guaranteeing their safety completely, the North's Asia Pacific Peace Committee, a state agency in charge of cross-border exchanges, said in a statement.
"The South Korean authorities' persistent blocking of the tour under far-fetched pretexts would compel our side to take decisive measures," it said.
"These measures may include the abrogation of all agreements and contracts on the tour provided by our side to the South side as special benefits, the freezing of real estates of the South side in the tourist areas and other matters."
The cash-strapped communist country has proposed talks with South Korea about resuming the tourism projects which had earned it tens of millions of dollars a year until relations soured.
South Korea suspended the tours after the North's army shot dead a Seoul housewife at the scenic Mount Kumgang resort in July 2008.
Lost millions
She had strayed into a poorly marked closed military zone while on a stroll.
It says the two governments should hold talks to work out firm agreements on the safety of South Korean visitors before the trips can resume.
"There is no change in the government's stance that concrete measures must be taken to ensure the safety of tourists," said Unification Ministry spokesperson Chun Hae-sung, quoted by Yonhap news agency.
The Mount Kumgang tours have earned some $487m in fees for the North since they began in 1998. Cross-border visitors could also previously take day trips to the historic city of Kaesong just across the frontier.
Kaesong is also the location of the joint industrial estate, where 42 000 North Koreans work in 110 South Korean factories.
All the cross-border projects are run by South Korea's Hyundai Asan company, which has lost millions of dollars since the tours were suspended.