The suspended inter-Korean tourism project is on the verge of a catastrophic finale as Pyongyang confiscated five South Korean properties and froze privately owned assets at Mt. Geumgang on Friday. The move, even if anticipated following its earlier threat, is seen as a surprise because it is too extreme to give much hope for the resumption of the tour program. The shocking measure is apparently part of the North's brinkmanship tactics to wreak havoc on the already tense relations with Seoul.
By any account, the seizure and freezing of the assets cannot be acceptable as it is in flagrant violation of agreements between the two Koreas over the project.
It also constitutes a breach of contracts between North Korean authorities and South Korean businesses. Besides, the step infringes on international laws and norms Pyongyang should abide by to attract direct foreign investment. There is sufficient reason to consider the irrational move as self-destructive.
No doubt the recalcitrant communist state has nothing to gain from the latest
development. The unilateral action will only boomerang onto the impoverished North, scaring away investors from the South and other countries and deepening its economic troubles. It is likened to a suicide that may lead to the collapse of the military regime. It will also help promote the North's image as a pariah that cannot be trusted in the international community.
It is outrageous for the North to claim that it has decided to confiscate the assets as compensation for its losses arising from the suspended tour project. Northern officials should not try to shirk their responsibility for the suspension. The program came to a halt in July 2008 when a female South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean guard near a restricted area at the seaside mountain resort.
Since the tragic incident, Pyongyang has done little to restart the tour package. It has continued to reject the South's three-point demand: a probe into the fatal shooting, a measure to prevent a repeat of such a mishap and a full guarantee of the personal safety of tourists. How can the North expect South Koreans to keep visiting Mt. Geumgang without meeting those demands?
It is really disappointing that Pyongyang has finally adopted a bullying tactic to force the South to send its tourists again so that it can glean badly needed hard currency. The five assets seized include a family reunion center, funded and owned by the South Korean National Red Cross. Also among them are a cultural center and a spa resort owned by the Seoul-based Korea Tourism Organization.
More worrisome is that the North has threatened to take additional action against the South. On Saturday, it notified Hyundai Asan ― the South Korean operator of tours to the mountain ― that it would seize the frozen assets possessed by the company and other Southern investors this week.
Some North Korea watchers caution that the reclusive country might impose a travel restriction on the inter-Korean industrial complex in Gaeseong to jeopardize the overall economic cooperation with the South.
We urge the Kim Jong-il regime to give up its attempts to backtrack on inter-Korean collaboration and reconciliation. It should not dare to escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula, especially after a warship of the South was sunk after a suspected external explosion near the disputed maritime border with the North in the Yellow Sea last month. Pyongyang must immediately revoke its asset seizure and return to talks with Seoul to save the Mt. Geumgang tour program.
The project is a symbol of the inter-Korean cooperation launched in November 1998 under then-President Kim Dae-jung's sunshine policy of active engagement with Pyongyang. The North had better refrain from testing the patience of the South. We hope that the world's last Stalinist state will avoid making the grave mistake of losing the cash-cow project and letting the South unwind its engagement policy down the road.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/include/print.asp?newsIdx=64812
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