Staff Reporter
Pyongyang ordered most personnel at South Korean facilities in the Mt. Geumgang resort in the North, the site of a joint tourism project, to leave the country a Seoul official said Friday.
The move, which adds to an already-tense atmosphere on the Korean Peninsula, came after the communist state blocked access to South Korean facilities at the resort this week.
According to a Ministry of Unification spokesman, a senior North Korean tourism official told Hyundai Asan, the South Korean operator of the cross border tours, that 64 of the 80 personnel working at the facilities must leave no later than 10 a.m. Monday.
Twelve workers from Hyundai Asan and four from a golf course operator will be allowed to stay, reportedly as a means to maintain channels of communication.
The move is the latest step by Pyongyang in response to Seoul's reluctance to resume the tours, a source of hard currency for the cash-strapped North.
Last week, the reclusive state confiscated five facilities owned by the South Korean government, saying it was a measure to compensate for the damage its economy has incurred as a result of the suspension of the tours.
Seoul denounced the property seizure as breaching international laws and contracts between North Korea and businesses, and said it would announce retaliatory moves early this month.
The tours, a symbol of reconciliation between the two countries, began in 1998 and earned the North millions of dollars annually before being suspended after a South Korean visitor was shot dead by a North Korean soldier after breaching a military zone.
The South has said it will resume the tours only after the North agrees to a joint on-site investigation of the shooting incident and offers a state-to-state guarantee on the safety of visitors. Pyongyang has claimed it made the safety guarantee during talks with Hyundai Asan.
According to the Ministry of Unification, South Korean investment to develop the mountain resort totals an estimated $374 million.
북, 금강산 추가 인력 철수 통보
북한은 현대아산 인력 12명, 금강산 골프장 업체인 에머슨퍼시픽 인력 4명 등 총 16명만 남고 나머지 금강산 관광 관련 인력은 5월3일 오전 10시까지 철수하라고 통보했다고 통일부가 밝혔다.
금강산 관광지구에 평소 시설 관리 인원 70여명이 상주했다는 점을 감안할 때 이번 조치는 체류 인원을 현재의 `4분의 1 이하'로 줄이는 것이다.
북측은 현대아산과의 협의과정에서 최소한의 연락 기능을 유지하기 위해 현지에 일부 인원이 남을 필요가 있다는데 동의한 것으로 전해졌다.
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