By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
North Korea threatened Thursday to scrap all tourism accords with South Korea, unless Seoul resumes tourism to its town of Gaeseong and the Mt. Geumgang resort.
The Ministry of Unification here responded that no tourists will be permitted to travel to these tourist attractions until their safety is guaranteed.
Seoul put Mt. Geumgang tours on hold in July 2008 after a female tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier. The Gaeseong tours were suspended five months later.
The shooting incident came after the current conservative government took office in Seoul, promoting a stricter policy toward Pyongyang, emphasizing reciprocity.
Pyongyang's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, which is often used as a channel in dealing with South Korea, said the Lee Myung-bak administration was standing in the way of a resumption of the tours, although it was ready to accommodate visitors from the South.
The statement said the North would ensure tourists safety and give them access to necessary amenities.
``Having said that, South Korea should take all the responsibility for the consequences if the tourism projects are derailed,'' the North warned.
It noted that the tourism contracts were signed between the Peace Committee and Hyundai Asan.
``Therefore the South Korean government is not in a position to intervene in the tourism project," the statement said.
South Korean tourists should not face a travel ban to attractions in the North just because of the conservative faction in the South, it added.
In response, Chun Hae-sung, the spokesman of the unification ministry, told reporters that resuming tourism to Gaeseong and Mt. Geumgang could not be discussed without the safety matter being resolved.
``Our position is that all issues involving inter-Korean relations should be resolved through dialogue and cooperation,'' he said.
Pyongyang's threat came about a month after officials from North and South Korea failed to reach an agreement on resuming tourism to the two sites.
North Koreans have recently suffered from the consequences of a failed currency reform.
In addition, international sanctions imposed after the North test-fired several missiles and conducted an underground nuclear test last year has made it more difficult for them to make ends meet.
hkang@koreatimes.co.kr
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