SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – A senior North Korean official has visited a mountain resort that had been run jointly with rival South Korea during the last rapprochement and discussed efforts to unilaterally rebuild it into “a cultural complex envied by the whole world “. the media reported on Sunday.
Some experts say North Korea could be pressuring South Korea in order to benefit from an economic compromise, as the pandemic is exacerbating North Korea’s economic problems.
During a trip to Diamond Mountain Station, Prime Minister Kim Tok Hun “stressed the need to build the tourist area in our way of combining national character and modernity in good harmony with the natural landscape,” he reported. the Central News Agency of Korea.
Kim said North Korea aims to turn the mountain area into “the one known for serving the people and a cultural center envied by everyone.” He and other officials discussed the design and construction of a “global hotel, a golf course, a ski resort,” according to KCNA.
North Korea had operated a joint mountain tour program with South Korea for about ten years before being suspended after the death of a South Korean tourist shooting there in 2008. About 2 million South Korean tourists Koreans had visited the complex, a rare source of foreign currency for the impoverished north.
As relations improved in recent years, the two Koreas pushed for a resumption of stagnant joint economic projects, including the Diamond Mountain tours. But in the end, Seoul could not do so without challenging UN sanctions imposed by the Northern nuclear program.
Late last year, a rage in North Korea prompted the destruction of hotels and other facilities made in South Korea and demanded that South Korea send workers to the site to clean up the buildings. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called the South Korean facility “shabby” and “unpleasant-looking.”
But in January, North Korea postponed demolition plans due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.
North Korea has said it has not found any cases of the virus, a claim disputed by many outside experts. A major outbreak in North Korea could have devastating consequences as its health care system remains fragile. The pandemic has also dealt a massive blow to the northern economy, along with UN sanctions and a wave of natural disasters this summer.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, said the timing of Sunday’s statement in North Korea is less about tourism and more about political pressure. “Keeping Seoul’s hopes in relation to the commitment at risk,” North Korea pressures South Korea “to find ways to resume financial benefits for the North,” he said.
Prior to the pandemic, North Korea hosted Chinese tourists at the resort. But experts doubt whether it could re-develop and turn the area into a major tourist destination without South Korea’s cooperation.
The complex is located north of the inter-Korean border and hundreds of miles away from the northern border with China. North Korea’s poor transportation links make it difficult to attract large numbers of Chinese tourists.