South Korea is considering several options to improve its strained relationship with North Korea, a spokesperson for the Unification Ministry said on Monday, following media reports that Seoul may allow individual tours to the North.
Koo Byung-sam, spokesperson for the ministry responsible for inter-Korean affairs, declined to confirm any specific initiative but acknowledged that individual travel to North Korea does not appear to breach international sanctions.
“Tourism is one of the few cash-generating activities not targeted by United Nations sanctions,” Koo said, referencing measures imposed over North Korea’s nuclear and weapons development.
President Lee Jae Myung has pledged to pursue efforts to restore dialogue with Pyongyang, as tensions between the two Koreas have hit their lowest point in years. In recent weeks, Lee suspended anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts along the border and ordered an end to leaflet campaigns led by activists targeting the North’s leadership.
The president has also signalled plans to meet with national security officials to explore additional steps aimed at resuming communication with the North, which remains technically at war with the South since the Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
Interest in tourism has resurfaced following reports that North Korea opened a new beach resort in Wonsan, a key project promoted by leader Kim Jong Un to attract foreign visitors. However, the tourist site is not currently open to international travellers, according to a July 16 update by DPR Korea Tour, a website run by North Korea’s National Tourism Administration.
Asked whether South Korean citizens could visit Wonsan, Koo said such travel would depend on North Korea’s willingness to open the area to outsiders.
South Korea previously operated organised tours to Mount Kumgang in the North, but the programme was suspended in 2008 after a South Korean tourist was fatally shot by a North Korean soldier.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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