North Korea to redevelop flagship tourist resort
20 December, 2020
Pyongyang plans to redevelop its flagship Mount Kumgang tourist complex into a global resort, a year after leader Kim Jong Un ordered South Korean-built buildings there demolished, state media reported Sunday (Dec 20).
The resort - once a prominent symbol of inter-Korean financial cooperation - was built by South Korea's Hyundai Asan on one of the North's most scenic mountains, drawing thousands of Southern visitors.
But this past year Kim condemned the development with the South as an eyesore and described facilities there as "shabby" and built like "makeshift tents in a disaster-stricken area or isolation wards", ordering their removal.
On Sunday, the state Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim Tok Hun, the North's premier, stressed "the necessity to build the tourist area our very own way" to turn it right into a "cultural resort envied by depends upon", during his visit to the region.
He also known as for pushing ahead to carefully turn the area into a "modern and all-inclusive international tourist" resort, it added.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2019 described facilities at the Mount Kumgang tourist area as "shabby" and ordered their removal. (Photo: AFP)
The Mount Kumgang complex was once one of the two biggest inter-Korean projects, together with the now-shuttered Kaesong Industrial Complex, where Southern companies employed North Korean employees while paying Pyongyang for their services.
But its tours found an abrupt end in 2008 after a North Korean soldier shot dead a tourist from the South who strayed off an approved path, and Seoul suspended travel.
The reclusive North has long wished to resume the lucrative visits, nonetheless they would now violate international sanctions imposed on Pyongyang over its nuclear and ballistic weapons programmes - although the South's President Moon Jae-in has long championed engagement with Pyongyang.
In June, the North blew up a liaison office with the South on its side of the border - payed for by Seoul - saying it had no interest in talks.
"The Kim regime will battle to find the resources to redevelop Mt Kumgang and needs outside investment, but is signalling it'll downgrade South Korean partners and stakeholders," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
"By holding Seoul's hopes for engagement at risk, Kim is pressuring the Moon administration to find means of resuming financial benefits for the North."
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