hankyoreh

North Korea expressed its first official position regarding the shooting of a South Korean tourist in a statement issued July 12. Through the statement, the North expressed its regret about the shooting and provided its explanation about what happened. It also asked that the South take responsibility for the incident and establish countermeasures to prevent similar accidents. North Korea also rejected a request from South Korea to investigate the site.

The North has taken a hard line on the incident, blaming the South for the shooting. South Korean tourists will be restricted from further visits until the South apologizes and takes steps to ensure such accidents do not recur, the statement said.

However, the North does not want to inflate the situation. The North’s statement was issued not by a high-ranking body such as the Committee for the Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland, but by a working-level agency that develops tourist attractions.

The North’s ban on tourists from the South could be a reaction to an announcement made by South Korea on July 11 that it would stop tours to Mount Geumgang.

In a speech given at the opening of the National Assembly on July 11, President Lee Myung-bak suggested that the two Koreas resume the inter-Korean dialogue, seemingly in an effort to separate the incident from the larger issue of inter-Korean relations.

Neither North nor South seem to want the situation to get out of control. However, the problem is that South Korea views the North’s acceptance of its request for an investigation as the starting point for resolution of the accident. The North, in its statement, rejected the South’s proposal for a fact-finding team to visit the area, saying it had already confirmed the details of the accident with Hyundai officials when the accident occurred.

There are two possible ways of looking at this situation.

In a situation to reject dialogue between authorities from the South and the North, it can’t accept a fact-finding team on the level of authorities. This means that the North won’t use the accident to improve ties between Seoul and Pyongyang. Seoul is demanding investigations from the level of the government but a statement issued by the Unification Ministry on July 13 just mentioned a fact-finding team from the South.

The government urged the North cooperate with its request for an investigation in a statement issued by South Korea on July 13; the statement also discussed suspicions related to the statement issued by the North’s July 12 statement. As the South was not satisfied with the North’s statement, Seoul has reason to put pressure on Pyongyang.

However, if the North rejects the South’s request for an investigation, the South Korean government will have no choice but to depend on Hyundai to communicate with the North about the situation. If that does not work, the Lee administration will likely face domestic criticism for its handling of the incident.

It is likely that the South may consider suspending tours to the city of Gaeseong (Kaesong) if the North continues to refuse the South’s request for an investigation, but in that case, inter-Korean relations are likely to face additional strain.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]