North Korea has withdrawn a new negotiation card, namely, the disposal of South Korean assets at Mt. Geumgang. North Korea announced on June 17 that it would dispose of all assets within the Mt. Geumgang special district to develop the area into a special international tourism zone. The North also asked all South Korean parties holding real estate in the area to come to the mountain by June 30 to discuss the issue of disposing of frozen and seized properties. North Korea did not specify exactly what it means to dispose of properties. Dr. Cho Bong-hyeon at the Industrial Bank of Korea Economic Research Institute interprets the message as follows.

North Korea has already frozen and confiscated the South Korean government’s assets at the Mt. Geumgang tourism site. The North now seeks to confiscate frozen properties owned by private companies as well and to allow a third party to use them. In fact, South Korean investors hold title to the properties, but North Korea is trying to place them under its ownership in a unilateral move to dispose of them on its own accord.

North Korea also claims that investors and travel agents from many countries are actively proposing to participate in the Mt. Geumgang international tourism business, hinting that discussions with foreign businesses are underway. The announcement came at a sensitive time as North Korea recently disclosed secret inter-Korean contacts. Many are wondering what Pyongyang’s real motive is.

North Korea has been getting tougher with Seoul of late. In line with its hard-line stance, the North seems to be putting more pressure on South Korea by using the Mt. Geumgang issue. That is, the North is urging the South to resume the joint tourism project quickly, threatening to operate it independently or even to allow a third party to operate it unless South Korea takes action. Even as North Korea pressures Seoul, South Korea may not accept the North’s request easily. Aware of this, North Korea wants to justify its plan to attract tourists from third countries. There are complex factors behind North Korea’s intention to dispose of South Korean assets.

This isn’t the first time North Korea has pressured the South by exploiting the Mt. Geumgang tour business. Last year, the North seized South Korean assets at the mountain resort, such as a reunion center for separated families, a cultural center and a spa resort, while freezing Mt. Geumgang Hotel and the east and west wings of Onjeonggak, a tour complex on the mountain. In April this year, North Korea canceled an exclusive contract with South Korea’s Hyundai Asan to conduct tours to the North Korean mountain and declared the establishment of its own special tourism district there. Early this month, the North nullified the Mt. Geumgang tourism district law signed by Hyundai Asan and announced a new law instead.

There are only a few differences between the previous law and the newly-enacted law governing the special international tourism zone. For example, some regions, including the inner Geumgang area, which were not included in the previous law, have been added to the list of new tourist sites. The old law mentions South Korea on a preferential basis, while the new law places priority on foreign investors. This reflects the North’s desire to lure investors from third countries, if possible. The new regulation also mentions practical benefits for companies investing in the special district and guarantees their investment. In brief, the legislation of the new law indicates North Korea’s intention to push for third-party tourism in earnest.

Amid stronger pressure from North Korea, attention now swings to how the South Korean government and Hyundai Asan, the operator of the Mt. Geumgang tour business, will react. The South Korean company says it will decide how to respond to the North’s decision after inner discussions, while carefully watching exactly what North Korea is aiming for. The government, too, is discussing specific ways to address this problem.

The government stresses that the North should abide by its agreements with South Korean companies and the government on the tour program. Also, the government maintains that the property rights of South Korean companies investing in North Korea should be protected. It will engage in full discussions with the companies before deciding on how to respond to the North’s announcement. The government won’t rush to hold negotiations with North Korea right away. Rather, it will figure out Pyongyang’s true intentions behind the move and find out what the North is thinking of the resumption of the tour program.

It isn’t easy for the government to accept North Korea’s request, since it has been demanding for Pyongyang’s apology for the shooting death of a South Korean tourist at Mt. Geumgang in 2008 and responsible measures for two military provocations against South Korea last year. Even if South and North Korea sit at the dialogue table somehow, it is hard to expect to see a positive result because it is unlikely that there will be an improvement in North Korea’s attitude. How will North Korea manage the Mt. Geumgang tour business after its announcement of disposing of South Korean properties?

Even if North Korea transfers the tour business to a third-party business, it will find it difficult to draw as many tourists as South Korean travelers it attracted before. North Korea has announced various measures to resume the tour project, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will completely cut off relations with South Korea. The North is expected to take similar actions as previous ones, such as the seizure and freezing of assets. The Geumgang issue isn’t just about the tour business. For the resumption of the suspended tour project, it is necessary to break the deadlock in overall inter-Korean ties, to build mutual trust between the two sides and to ease international sanctions imposed on North Korea.

The Mt. Geumgang tour project marked a new milestone in the history of the divided Korea as a symbol of inter-Korean peace and cooperation. The South and North must find out new ways to promote reconciliation and cooperation as early as possible in order to disentangle the complicated bilateral relations.


[Interview] Teenage N. Korean Defectors Attend Forum on Multiculturalism
More than 20-thousand North Korean defectors have come to South Korea. About 20 percent of them are teenagers, who will lead a unified Korea in the future together with their South Korean counterparts. The number of young defectors is increasing year after year, with some arriving here all alone. There’s a special organization named “Rainbow Youth Center,” which has taken the lead in helping teenage defectors resettle and instilling an independent spirit in them since 2006. A forum took place here recently, which was participated in by many North Korean teenagers. The forum on multiculturalism started with an opening address by former Unification Minister Jeong Se-hyeon who serves as chairman of the center. In commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the organization, the forum was held to examine the problems of teenagers from multicultural families, including those from North Korea, and to hear their opinions. Here’s Kim Jae-woo, official from the Rainbow Youth Center, to explain the significance of this forum.

The forum commemorates the fifth anniversary of this organization. More significantly, it is the venue where we listen to the stories of teenagers from multicultural families and ponder on how we should perceive multiculturalism in Korea. Many South Koreans tend to look at North Korean teenagers differently. This forum is designed to persuade people not to discriminate against the youngsters from the North and to help them take firm root in South Korean society independently as members of a multicultural society.

The forum proceeded with expert presentations. Professor Lee Tae-ju at Hansung University, who held the post of center head, analyzed South Koreans’ general perceptions of new settlers from overseas, including North Korean defectors, and the current support systems for them. Also, Park Sang-young, the principal of Three Four School, an alternative school for North Korean newcomers, gave a presentation entitled “Seoul isn’t the only place where a rainbow appears.” What did he mean by the word “rainbow”?

More than 70 percent of North Koreans live in Seoul and around the capital area. It is important to promote more balanced development of the nation, especially after unification. I wanted to encourage this center to pay more attention to and give consideration to teenagers and other people trying to settle in local provincial areas. As a symbolic expression of my wish to behold a beautiful rainbow not only in Seoul but also in other regions, I came up with that title. It is true that it’s rather difficult to access information in local regions because support activities are carried out mostly in big cities. We have to solve this problem little by little.

The most attention-grabbing parts of the forum were the presentations of teenage defectors. They frankly spoke about their own experiences, which they had rarely shared with others before, such as what they felt in South Korean society and how they have changed through this youth center.

I’m Jeong Gwang-seong, a sophomore majoring in political science and diplomacy at Sogang University. I left North Korea in 2006. While going through a lot of experiences, I’ve realized that everything will go with the natural flow after all. No need to rush at all. After all sorts of harsh, painful experiences, I believe I can adapt to a new environment in a proper way.

Also, there were interesting events South and North Korean teenagers prepared together. They presented a non-verbal performance featuring the process of casting away prejudice against one another. Divided into different groups, they also filmed videos to express their views on multiculturalism. The joint productions may appear unfamiliar and clumsy, but the teenagers from both sides of the border were able to tear down the walls between them and take a step closer toward one another, while preparing for this forum. They found a small sense of hope and ways to communicate, and the viewers who saw their joint works deeply empathized with them.

...Here at the Rainbow Youth Center, children from multicultural families and teenagers from North Korea mingle together and prepare for various programs by themselves, which I think is very meaningful. Whenever I see their performances, I find myself crying drops of tears.

....The kids from multicultural families cannot understand different cultures and ideas overnight. But they should continue to get together and practice how to communicate with one another. Please remember the expression, “Once you get to know a person, you can love him or her.” The performances they presented here today will be an important beginning of that process.

Perhaps, what the North Korean teenagers need the most at this moment is to be given an opportunity to make themselves heard. This forum will hopefully serve as a good stepping stone for the young defectors to follow their dreams here in South Korea.