hankyoreh

a former site on the Mount Geumgang overland tour

At 5:15 a.m. on July 11 of last year, the sound of two gunshots rattled the morning of the Geumgang (Kumgang) Mountains. A South Korean tourist, Ms. Park, age 53, was killed by gunshots fired off by a North Korean soldier on patrol and the Mount Geumgang project was suspended.

No Promise of Restart

Throughout this past year, the Mount Geumgang project has been put into a situation where its resumption has not been guaranteed. Since the project’s suspension, inter-Korean relations have been on the downhill. Even the Kaesong (Gaeseong) Industrial Complex, which along with the Mount Geumgang project had been one of the major pillars of inter-Korean relations, has been on the retreat due to travel restrictions and the detention of a Hyundai Asan employee.

Since North Korea’s long-range rocket launch and second nuclear test, the South Korean government’s attitude towards the Mount Geumgang project has grown colder. President Lee Myung-bak said in an interview with foreign journalists Tuesday that previous South Korean administrations had provided substantial aid to North Korea over the last 10 years to open up its society, but the money had been used to arm itself with nuclear weapons instead. It has been pointed out that this statement was aimed at inter-Korean projects, like the Mount Geumgang project, that provide monetary support to North Korea.

A South Korean government official said Thursday that since a South Korean national had been shot and killed by a North Korean soldier and a South Korean employee at Kaesong has been detained, it would be difficult to resume the Mount Geumgang project without a firm guarantee of the safety of South Korean tourists. Moreover, he said, it would be even more difficult to pick up the project, which earns cash for North Korea, without conditions at a time when the international community is placing economic sanctions on North Korea for the second nuclear test.

The only light brightening the prospect of resuming the project is public opinion that still views the Mount Geumgang project as a symbol in inter-Korean relations. According to a poll of 507 adult women and men taken by the Hyundai Research Institute on July 6 to July 7, 56 percent of respondents believe that the Mount Geumgang project has played some role in improving inter-Korean relations. Moreover, on an item regarding conditions to restart the project, 49.9 percent responded that negotiations with North Korea to restart the project must first take place, 15.3 percent said it should be restarted first and a solution to the problems be found later, and 32.2 percent said North Korea should apologize before the project is restarted. The survey has a plus or minus 4.4 percent margin of error with a 95 percent confidence level.

Hyundai Asan has been experiencing business problems due to Mount Geumgang project’s suspension and some analysts are saying its survival cannot be guaranteed. As part of its corporate restructuring, it reduced its employee personnel from 1,084 last July to 411 over the past year. Hyundai Asan had produced a profit of 14.5 billion Won and 16.8 billion Won in 2006 and 2007, respectively, but last year, it ran a deficit of 21.3 billion Won. In the first quarter of this year alone, it lost 25.7 billion Won. Over the past year, it has experienced a 153.6 billion Won loss in sales due to the suspension of the Mount Geumgang project and its Kaesong tours.

The restaurant, hotel and entertainment facilities inside the Mt. Kumgang Tourist Zone have also seen a 54.9 billion Won loss in sales since the suspension of tourism. A 12-story family reunion center, completed last July, is also still awaiting its opening.

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