Kim Jong-un orders to remove South Korean facilities from tourist resort

SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered the pulling down of facilities built by South Korea in the Kumgangsan tourist resort, amid stalled inter-Korean diplomacy.

According to the North’s official newspaper Rodong Sinmun and the Korean Central News Agency on Wednesday, the North Korean leader visited Kosong Port, Haegumgang Hotel, House of Culture, Kumgangsan Hotel, Kumgangsan Okryu Restaurant, Kumgang Pension Town, Kuryong Village, Onchon Village, Family Hotel, Onjong Pavilion No. 2 and Kosong Port Golf Course on the east coast this week.

“He instructed to remove all the unpleasant-looking facilities of the south side with an agreement with the relevant unit of the south side and to build new modern service facilities our own way that go well with the natural scenery of Mt. Kumgang,” the KCNA said.

Kim also said that it was “a mistaken idea and a misguided understanding” for the resort to be deemed as the common property of the two Koreas, given that the location of the tourism site is on the North’s soil.

In September last year, President Moon Jae-in and Kim agreed to normalize the now-shuttered Kumgang tourism and Kaesong industrial park project when conditions mature.

Pyongyang’s rhetoric toward Seoul has turned sour since a second summit between its ruler and US President Donald Trump failed to yield results on the North’s denuclearization and corresponding measures from the US in February.

“North Korea seems to decide to take a stronger action as the South is not making any moves despite its hope that it will put efforts to resume the tourism project as it is not subject to international sanctions,” said Park Won-gon, a professor of international politics at Handong Global University.

The South began tours to Kumgangsan in 1998 but suspended them after a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier, purportedly for entering a military zone.

The majority of South Korean facilities at the resort were built by Hyundai Asan. The North Korean leader’s father Kim Jong-il granted the company exclusive rights set to expire in 2030.

The investment made by Hyundai Asan in the resort totals 767 billion won ($654 million). Its sales losses in the past 11 years for suspending the project are estimated at 1.6 trillion won.

“We are embarrassed by the sudden report in the situation where we are preparing for a resumption of tourism, but we will respond calmly,” the company said in a statement.

Hyundai Asan has formed a task force team for the inter-Korean economic cooperation project since the Moon-Kim summit at the village of Panmunjom in April last year, which led to a rapid thaw in inter-Korean relations.

Koh Yu-hwan, a professor of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University, said the North Korean leader’s remarks show its push toward “self-reliance,” to enhance its tourism without external resources.

“One of the achievements that Kim Jong-un has made is establishing buildings and tourism spots. North Korea is gearing up to attract massive numbers of Chinese tourists to the spots,” Koh said.

Along with Kumgangsan, the regime has been pushing the Wonsan Kalma coastal tourist area and Masikryong Ski Resort to be scenic spots of the country.