South Korea said yesterday its ban on tours to a North Korean resort will stay in force until Pyongyang gives firm safety guarantees, following the shooting of a holidaymaker that shocked the nation.
“The tourism at Mount Kumgang cannot resume ... unless we secure a firm guarantee of the safety of tourists,” said South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who called last Friday’s fatal shooting intolerable and demanded a joint probe into it.
Mount Kumgang earns the impoverished North tens of millions of dollars each year.
A soldier shot a 53-year-old housewife who strayed into a closed military area adjoining the resort, further souring relations between the neighbors.
The North cut official ties with the South earlier this year and refuses to let it send government investigators to the scene. It blames Seoul for the tragedy, while expressing regret at the death.
“North Korea should immediately comply with a joint investigation by the South and the North,” said Lee, as quoted by his spokesman.
The president said the South’s government and civilians had provided “massive aid” to the communist state over the past decade, including through Kumgang.
“It is intolerable that, for whatever reason, North Korea has shot and killed an unarmed civilian tourist,” he said.
The unification ministry, in a message that the North refuses to receive, has called the case a “shocking and clear-cut violation” of agreements guaranteeing the safety of southern tourists.
The North said the woman, who was taking a dawn stroll on the beach near her hotel, had gone “beyond the clearly marked boundary fence” and intruded deep into a military area.
According to a report seen by tour boss Yoon Man-joon, the North says its soldier told Park Wang-ja three times: “Stop or I shoot.” It says he then fired a warning shot before aiming three rounds at her. She was hit at least twice and died on the beach.
The report was disclosed by Yoon, president of Hyundai Asan, which developed and operates the Kumgang resort and other projects aimed at reconciliation. He returned on Tuesday from a four-day visit to the North.
Explaining the delay in notifying the tour operator of the killing, the North reportedly said it had not been immediately able to identify Park as a tourist since she had no identification papers.
The Seoul government has set up an investigation team to interview local witnesses to the tragedy. It was due to make an interim report later yesterday.
Inter-Korean relations have worsened since Lee took office in February, promising a tougher line on Pyongyang. Despite the killing, Lee last Friday offered to enter dialogue with the North, who rebuffed the proposal.
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