N. KOREA ON DEVELOPING MT. GEUMGANGSAN AREA

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Last year North Korea announced plans to develop the Mt. Geumgangsan area on its own and unilaterally told the South to remove its facilities. The plan was eventually postponed because of the pandemic, but with just ten days left in 2020, Pyongyang suddenly brought up the matter again. South Korea’s Ministry of Unification has proposed a meeting to discuss the matter.

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North Korean media reported that Premier Kim Tok-hun, who oversees the regime’s economic development, visited the Mt. Geumgangsan tourism zone development site. After checking out its attractions, he vowed to carry out the plan to develop the area into an international tourism and cultural zone in phases. Kim pledged to build world-class hotels, golf courses and ski resorts that fit into the natural scenery of Mt. Geumgangsan and represent the regime’s national features. The premier’s remarks are in line with Pyongyang's October 2019 announcement about the removal of South Korean facilities in the Mt. Geumgangsan area and the plan to develop it into a tourism zone on its own.

[Soundbite] (KOREAN CENTRAL TELEVISION(OCT. 23, 2019)) : "We will discuss with the South’s relevant ministries the removal of their unsightly facilities."

At the time, Pyongyang sent a letter demanding that Seoul remove its facilities. But South Korea turned it down and demanded that the matter be discussed face to face. When the COVID-19 outbreak began in January, the North notified the South of the postponement of removal. The regime remained reticent on Mt. Geumgangsan development afterwards, but brought up the matter again recently. Pundits say the communist state will likely include the development of Mt. Geumgangsan area in its five-year economic development plan to be announced at the Workers’ Party convention in January 2021. It could also reiterate its demand that the South remove its facilities from the area. South Korea’s Ministry of Unification has proposed a meeting to discuss the matter face to face. A ministry official expressed hope that the two sides can hold a meeting at an appropriate time once the pandemic subsides, as they need to solve the Mt. Geumgangsan issue and build a consensus on developing it into an international tourism zone.