S. Korea says ready to talk to North about resuming resort tours

PanARMENIAN.Net - South Korea is ready to talk to Pyongyang about resuming tours to the Mount Kumgang resort in North Korea if the safety of travelers can be guaranteed, an official said on Wednesday, March 20, according to Reuters.

New President Park Geun-hye has pledged to seek dialogue to ease tensions with Pyongyang that have surged since fresh UN sanctions were imposed on North Korea following its February 12 nuclear test.

Seoul's position is that no South Korean tourists will visit the scenic mountain on the east coast of the Korean Peninsula until the North gives assurances there won't be a repeat of the shooting death of a civilian in 2008, which halted trips.

"We have said many times that safety is more important than anything else in order for the Mount Kumgang tours to resume," said Park Soo-jin, spokeswoman for the Unification Ministry, which handles Seoul's ties with the North.

"If there can be a guarantee of safety, we believe there will be a resumption (of tours) without much difficulty," Park said, adding that such a guarantee would immediately lead to talks on details.

The resort, built by South Korea's Hyundai conglomerate, opened in 1998 as a symbol of reconciliation between the two Koreas. It was major source of cash for the impoverished North, bringing in half a billion dollars over a decade.

North Korea expressed regret for the death of the South Korean woman who had strayed into a restricted area while on an early morning walk but has refused to agree to Seoul's demands for safety assurances.

It later seized properties inside the resort and opened the area to Chinese tour operators to pressure the South to ease its demands.