hankyoreh

on July 11

By Choi Hyun-june, staff reporter

In response to a senior American official who said that UN sanctions against North Korea do not apply to tours to Mt. Keumgang, the South Korean government reiterated its standard position on Aug. 22 that it needs an authoritative interpretation from the sanctions committee of the UN Security Council.

During the official press briefing on Aug. 22, Unification Ministry Spokesperson Kim Ui-do responded to questions about the remarks made by the senior American official.

“We have to insure the safety of tourists, we need to figure out whether the tours are affected by the May 24 measures, and we need the UN sanctions committee to say that the tours are not related to weapons of mass destruction,” Kim said. In short, Kim was repeating the standard position of the South Korean government about the conditions necessary for resuming tourism to Mt. Keumgang.

However, Kim did not dismiss the possibility of resuming tourism entirely. “While the UNSC sanctions committee will make the final decision in its interpretation of the tourism to Mt. Keumgang, the South Korean government will have ample opportunities to express its position during that process, and it is also possible to have deliberations about our position,” Kim said. This appears to mean that the question of whether tours to Mt. Keumgang will be resumed essentially depends on the will of the South Korean government.

The previous day, a senior official at the US Treasury Department indicated that he does not believe tours to Mt. Keumgang are subject to the UNSC sanction resolution about North Korea, noting that the important thing is what the South Korean government intends to do about the issue.

“There are many interactions between North and South Korea that are not mentioned in the UNSC resolution. Those interactions depend on what kind of relations the South Korean government hopes to have with North Korea. I see these as being separate from the financial sanctions and the pressure that the international community is placing on North Korea to shut down weapons trading,” the official said in a meeting with South Korean at the American Center Korea in Seoul.

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