ID :
202808
Mon, 08/22/2011 - 15:15
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http://m.oananews.org//node/202808
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N. Korea vows to legally dispose of S. Korean assets at Mount Kumgang
SEOUL, Aug. 22 (Yonhap) -- North Korea said Monday it will legally dispose of all South Korean property at its scenic mountain resort, blaming Seoul for not responding to its proposals on how to handle the assets.
Pyongyang has threatened to dispose of the roughly 484 billion won (US$447 million) worth of assets unless South Korean business representatives visit the Mount Kumgang resort on the east coast to discuss ways to handle their property. Tour programs to the resort were suspended in 2008 following the shooting death of a South Korean female tourist there.
North Korea considers the South Korean authorities to have totally abandoned their property and interests at the resort and now plans to legally dispose of all South Korean properties there including real estate, equipment and vehicles, an unidentified spokesman for the resort's guidance bureau said, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
North Korea informed the South late last month that it would give South Korean business representatives three weeks to visit and choose between joining an international tour program for the resort or disposing of the assets through a lease, transfer or sale.
Earlier this year, the North announced a law designed to develop the resort as a special zone for international tours after unilaterally terminating exclusive tourism rights for Hyundai Asan, a key South Korean tour operator at the resort.
Four officials from Hyundai Asan visited the resort on Friday, the deadline set by the North, to try to resolve the dispute, but the spokesman said the meeting only proved that the South "has no intention to resume tours of Mount Kumgang and respond to the adjustment of properties but is keen to realize its sinister intention to use noble tourism for the purpose of confrontation."
A delegation of South Korean government officials and business representatives has also held two rounds of talks with the North since late June, but to little result.
The North Korean spokesman added that all South Korean materials and property were prohibited from being taken out of the resort starting Sunday at midnight, according to the KCNA dispatch. He also ordered all South Korean personnel at the resort to leave within 72 hours.
"The puppet conservative group is entirely to blame for the situation today when the tours of Mount Kumgang have reached such a deplorable pass, though they had been under way amid the attention of all Koreans and the whole world, and its crimes will be denounced and cursed by them for all ages," the spokesman said, referring to the South Korean government.
The South has warned that the North will be held accountable for all consequences resulting from its disposal of the assets.
"We will prioritize the safety of our citizens who are currently there and seek out all necessary measures, including legal and diplomatic steps," Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said without elaborating.
"It is regrettable that North Korea has broken business contracts and government-level agreements, and decided to carry out unilateral action against our firms' assets and personnel at Mount Kumgang," he said during a press briefing at the ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs.
Chun reiterated the government's stance that it cannot recognize the North's "unilateral actions" and will hold Pyongyang responsible for the consequences. He also said the government will hold talks with Hyundai Asan and other relevant firms to ensure the safety of the 14 South Korean staff at the resort.
The South Korean staff members are expected to return either on Tuesday or Wednesday, within the North's given time frame, and currently face no safety risks, a government official said on the condition of anonymity.
Later Monday, the resort's guidance bureau informed the South Korean government of its plan in a separate message sent to the Unification Ministry. It added that if the South does not follow its orders or damages the assets at the resort, it will respond "sternly according to law."
The warning appears to stem from the North's concerns about damage being done to three Hyundai Asan-operated power generators that supply electricity to the resort.
South Korea had invested tens of millions of dollars building hotels, restaurants and a golf course at the resort since 1998 when the North opened it for South Korean tourists. The government and the state-run Korea Tourism Organization spent some 124 billion won on a reunion center for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, a fire station, a culture center, a hot springs resort and a duty free shop. North Korea seized all the facilities last year in apparent anger over the suspended tour program, which had served as a major source of hard currency for the cash-strapped regime.
Private South Korean firms, including Hyundai Asan, invested an additional 360 billion won in building hotels, a golf course and other facilities, but the North froze all these assets last year.
Meanwhile, in an apparent bid to earn hard currency, the North is seeking to run tours linking its northeastern port city of Rajin and Mount Kumgang by ferry, according to sources.
The sources said North Korea is seeking to operate four-day tours in which Chinese people visit the mountain via the Mankyongbong-92, a North Korean ferry, at the port of Rajin.
In a related move, the North is seeking to prepare a test run of trips to the mountain resort by inviting foreign companies and major foreign media to visit, sources said.
According to sources, the test trip offered by the North will run between Aug. 28 to Sept. 2, under which a group of participants will visit Mount Kumgang via ship after departing from the northeastern port city of Rason.
The move is widely seen as an effort by the North to show its will to develop the mountain resort.
For decades, the North Korean ferry was the only shuttle linking North Korea and Japan. As the two countries have no diplomatic ties, the vessel was mostly used by pro-North Korean residents in Japan.
The ferry was later used to transport cargo starting in 1984, but Pyongyang's nuclear test in 2006 and a series of missile launches prompted Japan to block the ship's entry.
North Korea is set to use the vessel as a cruise ship for foreign businessmen who will take part in an international trade fair in Rason, a special economic zone in the North's northeastern coast. The fair will run from Monday to Thursday.
Meanwhile, South Korea will proceed with its plan to deliver 5 billion won worth of emergency staples to flood victims in the North on humanitarian grounds, said Chun, the ministry spokesman.
hague@yna.co.kr
Pyongyang has threatened to dispose of the roughly 484 billion won (US$447 million) worth of assets unless South Korean business representatives visit the Mount Kumgang resort on the east coast to discuss ways to handle their property. Tour programs to the resort were suspended in 2008 following the shooting death of a South Korean female tourist there.
North Korea considers the South Korean authorities to have totally abandoned their property and interests at the resort and now plans to legally dispose of all South Korean properties there including real estate, equipment and vehicles, an unidentified spokesman for the resort's guidance bureau said, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
North Korea informed the South late last month that it would give South Korean business representatives three weeks to visit and choose between joining an international tour program for the resort or disposing of the assets through a lease, transfer or sale.
Earlier this year, the North announced a law designed to develop the resort as a special zone for international tours after unilaterally terminating exclusive tourism rights for Hyundai Asan, a key South Korean tour operator at the resort.
Four officials from Hyundai Asan visited the resort on Friday, the deadline set by the North, to try to resolve the dispute, but the spokesman said the meeting only proved that the South "has no intention to resume tours of Mount Kumgang and respond to the adjustment of properties but is keen to realize its sinister intention to use noble tourism for the purpose of confrontation."
A delegation of South Korean government officials and business representatives has also held two rounds of talks with the North since late June, but to little result.
The North Korean spokesman added that all South Korean materials and property were prohibited from being taken out of the resort starting Sunday at midnight, according to the KCNA dispatch. He also ordered all South Korean personnel at the resort to leave within 72 hours.
"The puppet conservative group is entirely to blame for the situation today when the tours of Mount Kumgang have reached such a deplorable pass, though they had been under way amid the attention of all Koreans and the whole world, and its crimes will be denounced and cursed by them for all ages," the spokesman said, referring to the South Korean government.
The South has warned that the North will be held accountable for all consequences resulting from its disposal of the assets.
"We will prioritize the safety of our citizens who are currently there and seek out all necessary measures, including legal and diplomatic steps," Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said without elaborating.
"It is regrettable that North Korea has broken business contracts and government-level agreements, and decided to carry out unilateral action against our firms' assets and personnel at Mount Kumgang," he said during a press briefing at the ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs.
Chun reiterated the government's stance that it cannot recognize the North's "unilateral actions" and will hold Pyongyang responsible for the consequences. He also said the government will hold talks with Hyundai Asan and other relevant firms to ensure the safety of the 14 South Korean staff at the resort.
The South Korean staff members are expected to return either on Tuesday or Wednesday, within the North's given time frame, and currently face no safety risks, a government official said on the condition of anonymity.
Later Monday, the resort's guidance bureau informed the South Korean government of its plan in a separate message sent to the Unification Ministry. It added that if the South does not follow its orders or damages the assets at the resort, it will respond "sternly according to law."
The warning appears to stem from the North's concerns about damage being done to three Hyundai Asan-operated power generators that supply electricity to the resort.
South Korea had invested tens of millions of dollars building hotels, restaurants and a golf course at the resort since 1998 when the North opened it for South Korean tourists. The government and the state-run Korea Tourism Organization spent some 124 billion won on a reunion center for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, a fire station, a culture center, a hot springs resort and a duty free shop. North Korea seized all the facilities last year in apparent anger over the suspended tour program, which had served as a major source of hard currency for the cash-strapped regime.
Private South Korean firms, including Hyundai Asan, invested an additional 360 billion won in building hotels, a golf course and other facilities, but the North froze all these assets last year.
Meanwhile, in an apparent bid to earn hard currency, the North is seeking to run tours linking its northeastern port city of Rajin and Mount Kumgang by ferry, according to sources.
The sources said North Korea is seeking to operate four-day tours in which Chinese people visit the mountain via the Mankyongbong-92, a North Korean ferry, at the port of Rajin.
In a related move, the North is seeking to prepare a test run of trips to the mountain resort by inviting foreign companies and major foreign media to visit, sources said.
According to sources, the test trip offered by the North will run between Aug. 28 to Sept. 2, under which a group of participants will visit Mount Kumgang via ship after departing from the northeastern port city of Rason.
The move is widely seen as an effort by the North to show its will to develop the mountain resort.
For decades, the North Korean ferry was the only shuttle linking North Korea and Japan. As the two countries have no diplomatic ties, the vessel was mostly used by pro-North Korean residents in Japan.
The ferry was later used to transport cargo starting in 1984, but Pyongyang's nuclear test in 2006 and a series of missile launches prompted Japan to block the ship's entry.
North Korea is set to use the vessel as a cruise ship for foreign businessmen who will take part in an international trade fair in Rason, a special economic zone in the North's northeastern coast. The fair will run from Monday to Thursday.
Meanwhile, South Korea will proceed with its plan to deliver 5 billion won worth of emergency staples to flood victims in the North on humanitarian grounds, said Chun, the ministry spokesman.
hague@yna.co.kr
