By Kim Se-jeong
South Korea is willing to accept Pyongyang’s request to meet to discuss the resumption of cross-border tours, but it isn’t sure whether the proposed date is appropriate.
Quoting an anonymous source from the government, Yonhap reported Friday, “It looks improbable that the meeting will take place on Oct. 15,” North Korea’s proposed date, in what appears to be a thought-out decision to prevent the North from using the talks as a bargaining chip when negotiating the terms for the family reunions.
The North proposed the date last month during a working-level meeting on arranging family reunions. Officials from North Korea Red Cross demanded the resumption of the Mt. Geumgang tours in exchange for using the facilities at the Mt. Geumgang resort for the reunion.
The family reunion center at the Mt. Geumgang resort was South Korea’s preferred location.
"We can't completely rule out the possibility that North Korea might use the reunions as a negotiating chip during the Mt. Geumgang talks," the official said.
One likely option is to meet after the family reunion takes place at the end of the month, he said.
During a third round of Red Cross meetings on Oct. 1, Pyongyang finally withdrew its initial request and yielded to South Korea.
But it didn’t completely abandon its hope to resume the tours, a cash cow for the hard currency-hungry regime, and proposed holding a separate meeting on Oct. 15.
The cross-border tour was suspended in July 2008 after the death of a South Korean tourist, who was shot by a North Korean guard while walking along the beach near the resort.
South Korea demanded a thorough probe and a formal apology from the North, which merely accused the tourist of entering an off-limit zone. In response, Seoul called a halt to the tour, and in turn the North froze all related assets, including the buildings constructed with South Korean government financing.