By Yi Whan-woo
North Korea is likely to make strong demands for a resumption of the suspended tours by South Korean citizens to Mount Geumgang in North Korea at the envisioned inter-Korean high-level talks, sources said Wednesday.
In return, Seoul may consider accepting Pyongyang’s offers if it wants to regularize reunions among relatives separated either side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
The two Koreas plan to hold preliminary talks at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjeom, Thursday, to discuss the agenda for the high-level talks in line with their agreement reached on Aug. 25.
Kim Ki-woong, chief of the Ministry of Unification’s Office of Inter-Korean Dialogue, will represent the three-member delegation from Seoul. The North Korean side will be headed by Hwang Chol, a senior official of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland (CPRF). It deals with inter-Korean affairs.
“Pyongyang is likely to insist on including the tour program to Mount Geumgang on their agenda items for the high-level talks,” said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korea studies at Dongguk University. “Seoul instead will be mainly interested in holding reunions of the separated family members regularly and reaching a deal over their respective key concerns will be crucial.” Paik Hak-soon, a senior researcher at the Sejong Institute, agreed. He cited the fact that the tour program to North Korea’s scenic mountain resort was a cash cow for the cash-strapped, repressive state until it was suspended in 2008. Seoul banned its citizens from visiting Mount. Geumgang after a female tourist entered an off-limits zone and was shot dead by a North Korean soldier.
“You have to be willing to give what others want in order to get what you want,” Paik said.
Analysts speculated that Pyongyang will also ask Seoul to discuss lifting the so-called May 24 measures, a set of economic sanctions imposed on May 24, 2010.
In retaliation for the North’s sinking of South Korean naval frigate Cheonan in March 2010, Seoul has banned all trade activities with Pyongyang except for that within the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.
The issues over an anti-Pyongyang leaflet-drop campaign carried out by South Korean activists and dormant dialogue on Pyongyang’s denuclearization are also expected to be included on the agenda, according to observers.
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether the two sides will reach a deal over the level of representatives who will head the high-level talks.
Seoul is seeking talks between Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo and Kim Yang-gon, Pyongyang’s director of the United Front Department (UFD). They both participated in reaching the inter-Korean agreement on Aug. 25 to defuse military tensions along the border.
But North Korea maintains that the secretariat director of the CPRF is the right counterpart for Hong.