SEOUL'S PROPOSAL TO N. KOREA ON MT. KUMKANG

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Seoul has proposed working-level discussions with Pyongyang over stalled South Korean tours to Kumkangsan Mountain. The South Korean government says it will come up with creative solutions to the issue, including group tours for separated families in the South. The government's plans mainly focuses on resuming and reviving the Kumgangsan Mountain tours. Here are the details.

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The government says Mount Kumgang has special meanings in three contexts as a tourist destination; a venue for reunions of separated families and a place for social and cultural exchanges. It announced plans to come up with creative solutions by comprehensively taking into account these three features. First, group tours by separated families in the South are being reviewed, since, unlike inter-Korean family reunions, the procedures to select participants are not needed, while it is also possible to approach them from a humanitarian perspective. This is also a measure Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul proposed before he took office.

[Soundbite] KIM YEON-CHUL(UNIFICATION MINISTER(THEN INJE UNIV. PROFESSOR, MAR. 2018)) : "It is possible to approach Kumgang tourism in connection with the issue of separated families. It might be necessary to operate group tours exclusive to separated families."

Allowing individual tours is also being considered, since it is different from the previous method of paying large sums of cash to the North, and therefore, is less likely to violate sanctions on Pyongyang. But the essential prerequisite is North Korea's promise to guarantee the safety of South Korean tourists. Following Hyundai Asan's proposal to hold inter-Korean discussions on new ways to develop the mountain resort, Seoul is considering linking the firm's project with the North's Mount Kumgang development plan in the long term.

[Soundbite] PROF. YANG MOO-JIN(UNIV. OF N. KOREAN STUDIES) : "The two Koreas could create mutual interest if North Korea designates Mount Kumgang as a free tourism zone, while South Korea develops a tourism zone for a peace economy, which links its Seorak Mountain and the North Korean resort."

It remains to be seen whether or not Pyongyang will accept the proposal for working-level talks, as North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has already declared that Mount Kumgang is not a symbol of inter-Korean relations.