SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – A top North Korea official visited a mountain resort run with rival South Korea during previous rapprochement and discussed efforts to unilaterally transform it into “ a cultural resort where the whole world jealous of ‘. media reported Sunday.
Some experts say North Korea could pressure South Korea to benefit from an economic commitment as the pandemic exacerbates North Korea’s economic woes.
On a trip to the Diamond Mountain resort, Prime Minister Kim Tok Hun emphasized the need to build the tourist area in our own way, combining national character and modernity in harmony with the natural landscape, the Korean Central News Agency reported.
Kim said North Korea wants to turn the mountainous region into “the area known for serving the people and a cultural resort that the whole world envies”. He and other officials discussed the design and construction of “a world-class hotel, a golf course and a ski resort,” said KCNA.
North Korea had run a joint travel program on the mountain with South Korea for about 10 years before it was shelved following the death of a South Korean tourist there in 2008. About 2 million South Korean tourists had visited the resort, a rare source of foreign currency for the impoverished north.
As relations improved in recent years, the two Koreas pushed for a restart of stalled joint economic projects, including the Diamond Mountain tours. But Seoul was ultimately unable to do that without facing the UN’s punishments imposed on the North’s nuclear program.
Late last year, an enraged North Korea pushed for the destruction of South Korea-made hotels and other resort facilities and demanded that South Korea send workers to the site to clear the buildings. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the South Korean facilities “shabby” and “unpleasant-looking.”
But in January, North Korea postponed the scrapping plans out of concern about the spread of the corona virus.
North Korea has said it has not found a single virus case, a claim disputed by many outside experts. A major outbreak in North Korea could have devastating consequences as the health system remains fragile. The pandemic has also dealt a huge blow to the economy of the North, 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 North Korean statement is less about tourism and more about political pressure. By jeopardizing Seoul’s hopes for involvement, North Korea is putting pressure on South Korea “to find ways to resume the financial benefits to the North,” he said.
Before the pandemic, North Korea received Chinese tourists at the resort. But experts doubt it could redevelop and turn the area into a major tourist site without the cooperation of South Korea.
The resort is located just north of the inter-Korean border and hundreds of kilometers (miles) from the northern border with China. North Korea’s poor transport connections make it difficult to bring a large number of Chinese tourists there.