Anger Explodes Over Killing at Geumgang
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The shooting death of a South Korean woman by a North Korean soldier for allegedly trespassing into a restricted military zone Friday has ignited public fury.
Conservative civic groups are calling for the government to discontinue all aid to the North and review its North Korean policy. Internet users blamed the government and the tourist agency for having not prevented such a tragedy beforehand and ill-management afterwards.
According to fellow tourists of the late Park Wang-ja, some of the fences along the beach where Park is assumed to have walked were broken. Also, the sign demarcating the military zone was not prominent enough to be seen in the early dawn, Lee In-bok, a student of Kyungbuk University who allegedly heard the gunfire at the time of tragedy, said.
He also stated that the group was not informed of the exact demarcation of the territory. ``We were told not to take pictures there. But when we actually arrived, we didn't get the impression that it was a guarded place as there was no fence or sign,'' he said. Another tourist confessed she had crossed the line before, and didn't realize she risked getting shot.
The Web site of Hyundai Asan, the organizer of the Mt. Geumgang tour, was full of criticism that the company had not put enough effort into informing tourists of the risks of visiting the Stalinist country. ``You take them to show the sights and make money, not to bring back a dead body,'' an angry citizen said. ``You should have eliminated any risk factors before doing business,'' he added.
Ahn Seong-yong said, ``I was astonished that the company tried to continue the tour schedule without considering the death of the fellow tourist. It is ridiculous,'' and asked Asan to take full responsibility for everything.
A staff member at the agency said the office was receiving telephone calls criticizing the company and North Korea. Some even urged the halt of aid to North, he said. ``We try to express our regret and apologies,'' he added.
The Unification Ministry governing the tour program to the North is also under fire for mishandling the program. ``A South Korean returned dead. Is this business for South Koreans or North Korea? What have you done to prevent it?'' Koh Jong-seok said.
Some others said this is a result of the South being too nice to the North. ``For all that time, we've only been a money provider for them,'' a citizen said.
Conservative civic groups also issued a joint statement, calling for the government to stop aid to the North and demanded Pyongyang make an apology for killing an unarmed tourist.