hankyoreh

Gangwon Province that leads to Mt. Keumgang in North Korea. Before tours were suspended in 2008

By Choi Hyun-june, staff reporter in Goseong

“I just wish the government would give a definite answer on whether it plans to resume tourism to Mt. Keumgang or not.”

These were the words of Lee Jong-bok, the 57-year-old proprietor of Last Stop Squid, as he spoke to a Hankyoreh reporter on Feb. 22. His dried seafood store, located at the northernmost tip of South Korea in Goseong County, Gangwon Province, has been in dire straits since he took over in 2006, at a cost of 200 million won (US$187,000). In July 2008, just a year and a half after he acquired it, he had to keep the store open only irregularly when tourism at the North Korean mountain resort was suspended.

The number of visitors dwindled from nearly 50,000 a month to just a few thousand. Even at peak season during the summer holidays, the store opens its doors for only a short time. Lee keeps food on the table doing odd jobs and farm work.

“I kept waiting for tourism at Mt. Keumgang to reopen - one month, two months, six months, a year,” he said. “Eventually, six years went by. In the meantime, my credit rating has been ruined, and people in neighboring villages have suffered tremendously.”

There have been high points. Tourists on their way back from visiting Mt. Keumgang would stop in Lee‘s store to buy squid, shrimp, and pollock jerky. Even on a slow day, the store would bring in 300,000 to 400,000 won (US$280-375) in sales per bus. Business was good enough that more than 10 dried seafood stores sprang up along a four- to five-kilometer strength of National Road 7, which leads to the port of Daejin.

“From the way the government has been acting, it doesn’t look like the Mt. Keumgang tourism issue is going to be solved any time soon,” a dispirited Lee said. “Still, I hold out hope, thinking, ‘Maybe, just maybe.’”

When a Hankyoreh reporter visited on Feb. 22 and 23, Goseong County was dotted with banners bearing messages such as “Reconcile the Koreas by reopening Mt. Keumgang for tourism. Toward peace! Toward unification!” Residents waved South Korean flags and offered hearty greetings as busloads of people passed through on their way to reunions with separated family members in the North.

“The region has really suffered since tourism was suspended at Mt. Keumgang, so there’s a lot of interest in the reunions,” said Ham Myung-jun, a member of the county council.

Indeed, Goseong County has been losing much of its younger population since 2008, as more and more residents have been declaring bankruptcy and watching their credit ratings plummet. Between June 2008 and late 2012, the number of elderly people living alone nearly doubled from 1,282 to 2,017. It is the result of a local economy that has been hemorrhaging jobs and finances.

Figures supplied last year by the county office showed Goseong suffering an average of 3.12 billion won (US$2.9 million) per month in direct economic losses since tourism was suspended in July 2008. Cumulative losses for the 65 months through the end of 2013 stood at 202.8 billion won (US$190 million). All this has simply come from sales drying up at inns, restaurants, regional product shops, and convenience stores.

Back when tourism was booming, Goseong enjoyed not just economic gains but a reputation as a symbol of reconciliation. Indeed, it is one of the best examples of a divided local government. It became part of North Korea when the border was drawn at the 38th parallel after Korea was liberated from Japanese rule in 1945, but it ended up divided between the two sides when the armistice line was drawn after the Korean War. Today, it is divided into a South Korean side with six townships and a North Korean side with five; Mt. Keumgang itself is on the Northern side.

“The collapse of tourism at Mt. Keumgang has also been a collapse in pride,” said Ham Myung-jun.

In the past, Goseong leaned heavily conservative when it came to politics, a consequence of it being recovered territory.

“During the 1960s and 1970s, people from Goseong were treated like Communists,” said a local resident on condition of anonymity. “You couldn’t even enroll at the Korea Army Academy. So people here felt the need to prove that they weren’t Communists, and that’s why lean so conservative.”

Because of this, the residents, despite their deep desire for a resumption of tourism and reconciliation between South and North, have still voted heavily for the conservative Saenuri Party (NFP). During the 2012 presidential election, then-candidate Park Geun-hye won 66.5% of votes in Goseong, the second highest rate among Gangwon Province’s 18 cities and counties.

Recently, signs of change have been evident. Last month, residents held a roundtable on resuming tourism at Mt. Keumgang, a first since the suspension. Leading opposition figures like former Unification Minister and Democratic Party presidential candidate Chung Dong-young and former lawmaker Kim Sung-ho were invited.

“I want to use my own money to rent a bus to Seoul and submit a petition to the government to resume Mt. Keumgang tourism,” said one resident who attended. Others expressed a wish to do “whatever it takes” to get tourism going again. There are signs of renewed life in this conservative-leaning symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation.

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