South May Suspend Gaeseong Tours
By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak reaffirmed Wednesday that his government will not lift its ban on tours to Mt. Geumgang unless the communist regime allows a joint investigation into the shooting death of a female tourist at the North Korean resort.
Lee also urged North Korea to ensure safety of South Korean tourists and take appropriate measures to prevent the recurrence of such a tragedy. The government will consider suspending civilian tours to Gaeseong if the North fails to meet the demands, he said.
``It is very important to clear suspicions about the killing and ensure safety of tourists before normalizing North Korean tour programs,'' Lee said after a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) at Cheong Wa Dae. The inter-Korean cooperation programs, initiated and expanded by Lee's predecessors, Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, are a major source of revenue for the poverty-stricken country.
Also on the discussion table was Japan's claim to the South Korean islets of Dokdo in the East Sea. The President instructed his Cabinet to map out strategic countermeasures.
It was the first time that Lee has convened an NSC meeting since his inauguration in February.
Participants included Prime Minister Han Seung-soo; Presidential Chief of Staff Chung Chung-kil; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Yu Myung-hwan; Kim Sung-hwan, chief presidential secretary on foreign and security affairs; National Intelligence Service chief Kim Sung-ho; Minister of Unification Kim Ha-joong and Minister of National Defense Lee Sang-hee.
The NSC meeting comes amid criticism that the Lee administration failed to respond quickly and effectively to the security threats posed by the killing at Mt. Geumgang and Japan's provocation over Dokdo.
Many observers have called on Lee to overhaul crisis management systems in his administration and set up better contingency plans.
``Given the strategic importance of the inter-Korean tourism programs and the Dokdo islets, Lee should have convened the security council at an earlier date,'' said Chung Sye-kyun, chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party. ``The government's reactions to the tourist's death and Japan's claim to Dokdo were disappointing. Its risk management system didn't work properly.''
Cheong Wa Dae said the government is considering raising the killing of a tourist by a North Korean soldier as an official discussion topic at the ASEAN Regional Forum slated for July 22-24 in Singapore. It will also seek collaboration with the United States and China to pressure North Korea into accepting the proposal for a joint investigation, a presidential spokesman said.
Regarding Japan, South Korea will adopt a long-term and strategic approach to protect its sovereignty over Dokdo, rather than emotional responses, the spokesman said.
Some observers have raised concerns that Japan's provocation over Dokdo may hamper policy coordination between Seoul and Tokyo over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Japan has refused to participate in an energy aid program for the North, citing the Stalinist state's abductions of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s. The dispute has hindered the progress of the multilateral talks on the North's nuke program.
Tokyo has called for Pyongyang to address the abduction issue first to get assistance from Japan. Seoul has cooperated with Tokyo over the issue, but Japan may find it difficult to get support from South Korea due to the dispute over Dokdo, the observers said.