hankyoreh

By Kim Kyu-won, staff reporter

North Korea is using South Korean property in the Mt. Kumgang tourism area that was confiscated after the tourism venture was halted following the shooting death of a tourist.

A Hyundai Asan executive who visited the area on July 3 for a ninth anniversary memorial for Hyundai Group chairman Chung Mong-hun said on August 6 that the duty-free shop in the east Onjonggak hall was being used as a souvenir shop, while a buffet restaurant in the west hall was serving as a duty-free shop.

Chung was son of Chung Ju-yung, the group’s founder. He was also brother of New Frontier Party presidential hopeful Chung Mong-joon.

The same executive noted that the Kwanggaeto restaurant in the east Onjonggak hall had been renamed “Pyolgumgang,” although they did not confirm whether it was up and running.

The east and west halls of Onjonggak are the joint property of Hyundai Asan and the Korea Tourism Organization.

In August 2011, Pyongyang announced that it would nullify property rights for South Korean assets in the area. At the time, it requested discussions on the rights with Hyundai Asan and expelled all South Korean officials, but Hyundai Asan declined to take part. July’s trip was South Korean businessmen’s first visit to the tourism area since then.

The executive also claimed to have seen three tour buses at the Oegumgang Hotel and around six people who appeared to be tourists in front of Onjonggak, but was unable to confirm whether they were actually tourists or North Korean officials.

“I looked around the Onjonggak area and went into the lobby of the Oegumgang Hotel, and they appeared to be fairly well maintained,” the executive reported.

The same executive also said Hyundai Asan CEO Chang Kyung-jak told officials with North Korea’s Tourist Site Development Bureau that tourism in the region should be resumed as soon as possible, but received little of a response.

The Mt. Kumgang tourism venture was halted on July 11, 2008, following the death of South Korean tourist Park Wang-ja, who was shot by a North Korean soldier. As the suspension wore on, Pyongyang canceled or froze all South Korean assets, enacted a special law for international tourism in the area, and revoked monopoly rights for Hyundai Asan.

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