North Korea is luring foreign companies to invest in cruise ship services for the Mount Geumgang tourist program, promising them the rights to open a casino at the scenic North Korean mountain.
 
The country recently posted a business proposal on its promotional website for the mountain, revealing its plan to launch cruise services for Geumgang tourists. It said a foreign company or a consortium of foreign firms will be able to run the cruise services by investing ten to 20 million dollars over ten years.
 
The tourist program on the North Korean mountain was initially launched by South Korea through the Mount Geumgang project in November 1998. The program, however, was suspended in 2008 after a South Korean tourist died after being shot by a North Korean soldier in a restricted area of the resort.
 
In April of 2011, the North stripped the South Korean operator Hyundai Asan of its exclusive rights to run the tourist program. The next month, the North enacted a special law on the Mount Geumgang international special tourist zone, excluding any South Korean company from participating in the program. 
 
Since November of 2011, the regime has opened the mountain to some other foreign tourists, including those from China.
 

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