South Korea urged North Korea today to drop plans to suspend South Korean tourism operations and freeze some of the south's assets at a scenic mountain site in the north, according to dpa. A defence ministry spokesman expressed regret at the north's decision, announced late Thursday, following a survey of South Korean business operators at Mount Kumgang. "We see no way of salvaging the troubled tourism business at Mount Kumgang, forcing us to take other actions," a North Korean tourism spokesman was quoted as saying by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency. The South Korean government in 2008 halted the Mount Kumgang tour programme run by South Korea's Hyundai Asan, after a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier. "Since our contract with South Korean Hyundai Asan cannot be put into practice because of Seoul's government, we will resume the tourism business at Mount Kumgang with a new business partner," the North Korean spokesman said. South Koreans had been allowed to visit Mount Kumgang since November 1998. Just under 2 million South Koreans had visited the scenic site before Seoul suspended the program in 2008. YTN TV reported that South Korean companies own about 359-billion- won (319 million US dollars) worth of property in North Korea. The South Korean government had spent about 60 billion won on building a family reunion house, where relatives who were divided when the border between the two countries was sealed after the 1950- 53 Korean War were able to meet again. The suspended tourism programme had "inflicted huge economic loss upon us," the North Korean spokesman said. "If South Korean conservative leaders continue to insult our faithful efforts and take a path of confronting our spirit of Korean unity, it could lead us to reconsider (the operation of) the joint industrial park in our border city of Kaesung," the spokesman added. South Korean companies operate clothing, textile, component and kitchenware factories in Kaesung with North Korean workers. The South has repeatedly pushed for the North to guarantee South Korea the right to access its assets in North Korea.
