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With the shutdown of Mount Kumgang “an important bridge of dialogue” closes
by Joseph Yun Li-sun
South Korean authorities confirm that its workers are no longer in the tourist resort co-managed with North Korea. Pyongyang announces the seizure of foreign assets. Source tells AsiaNews, the decision is a “blow to peace”.
Seoul (AsiaNews) – With the departure of South Korean employees from Mount Kumgang, “an important page in the peninsula’s peace process is over. The fault lies exclusively with Pyongyang, which is trying every means to get money and is unconcerned about the consequences of its acts,” a source close to the South Korean government told AsiaNews as he spoke about the recent dispute between the two Koreas over the management of a tourist resort.
Opened in 1998 during the heyday of South Korea’s ‘sunshine policy’, designed to bridge the gap with Pyongyang, the resort was built inside North Korea with southern capital.
The election in 2008 of a conservative president, Lee Myung-bak, and the power struggle over Kim Jong-il’s succession sank the policy of détente. The resort was closed after a North Korean soldier shot a South Korean tourist, dealing a major blow to the North’s economy.
Two days ago, North Korea announced that South Korean employees at the resort had to leave and that all its assets would be seized.
A spokeswoman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry said there were now no more South Koreans in the North.
“More than the loss of money, the whole thing is a major blow to peace,” the source said. “The removal of workers represents the destruction of an important bridge of dialogue.”
Now North Korea’s difficulties appear to be getting worse. After international sanctions were imposed three years ago as punishment against its military nuclear programme, North Korea is losing US$ 17 billion a year.
China and Russia, North Korea’s traditional backers, also cut back on the humanitarian aid they provide the Communist nation. South Korea has almost reduced it entirely.