By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter

Government offices differed over whether the resumption of tours to the Mt. Geumgang resort in North Korea violates UN Resolution 1874.

A senior official of the Ministry of Unification said Wednesday that any resumption would partially violate the resolution. The tours have been suspended since July last year after a shooting incident.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, however, took a different stance. It said it does not believe the program violates the resolution.

Asked about the possibility of a resumption of the tour, the unification ministry official said on condition of anonymity, "The government has yet to conduct a full review of the issue but I can say it partially violates Resolution 1874."

The South banned its citizens from traveling to the scenic mountain resort after a South Korean female tourist was shot dead by a North Korean solider during a pre-dawn stroll.

She is believed to have strayed into a restricted military zone. But how the incident actually transpired remains unclear as the North has refused to conduct a joint inspection of the scene.

Seoul has said there are three prerequisites for the resumption of the tours. North Korea must cooperate in a fact-finding mission, promise to prevent similar incidents and guarantee the safety of South Korean tourists.

When Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-un of Hyundai Group, operator of the program, visited the North last week, the secretive state indicated that it was willing to have government-level talks in order to discuss ways to restart the project.

But the official noted that the government does not see the hint as an official proposal for inter-Korean talks.

"There are several channels to suggest a government-level dialogue," he said. "If the North proposes talks officially, we can discuss the issue any time."

He added that the government is willing to accept proposals from the North.

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1874 on June 12 following Pyongyong's second underground nuclear test.

It imposes further economic and commercial sanctions on the Stalinist state and encourages UN members to search North Korean cargo ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and WMD materials.

North Korea blasted the move, with its media outlets saying that the country considers the sanctions as a "declaration of war."

Unlike the unification ministry, Moon Tae-young, spokesman of the foreign ministry, said, "The government's initial judgment was that the tour program is not under the UN resolution, and South Korea and the United States share a similar view."

Moon said there is no change in the stance.

ksy@koreatimes.co.kr