Workers given 72 hours to quit resort
Source: Agencies |
August 23, 2011, Tuesday
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North Korea yesterday gave South Koreans working at a jointly run tourism resort 72 hours to leave, saying time had run out to resolve a long-running dispute over what was once a symbol of cooperation between the two Koreas.
The scenic Mt Kumgang resort has been closed since a North Korean soldier shot dead a South Korean tourist there in 2008, drying up a lucrative source of hard currency for the impoverished North.
Pyongyang has suffered big losses due to the South's "unilateral suspension" of operations at the resort, a spokesman for the North's Guidance Bureau of the Special Zone for International Tours of Mt Kumgang.
He said the North "has so far provided several opportunities for negotiations and made every sincere effort, advancing a variety of choices so that the properties may be dealt with according to the will of enterprises of the South side."
After months of threats and counter-threats by both sides, Pyongyang said it will now "legally dispose" of South Korean assets at Mt Kumgang after Seoul failed to meet Friday's final deadline to agree on asset disposal.
South Korean assets at the resort, just north of the border, are estimated to be worth about US$285 million.
North Korea gave the South Koreans working there 72 hours to leave. South Korea's Unification Ministry website said 14 of its nationals were stationed at the complex.
Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sungsaid: "We cannot accept this ultimatum and hold North Korea responsible for all of the consequences that may follow."
The resort was built by an affiliate of the South's Hyundai Group at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. It was opened in 1998 and has been visited by more than a million South Koreans.
The scenic Mt Kumgang resort has been closed since a North Korean soldier shot dead a South Korean tourist there in 2008, drying up a lucrative source of hard currency for the impoverished North.
Pyongyang has suffered big losses due to the South's "unilateral suspension" of operations at the resort, a spokesman for the North's Guidance Bureau of the Special Zone for International Tours of Mt Kumgang.
He said the North "has so far provided several opportunities for negotiations and made every sincere effort, advancing a variety of choices so that the properties may be dealt with according to the will of enterprises of the South side."
After months of threats and counter-threats by both sides, Pyongyang said it will now "legally dispose" of South Korean assets at Mt Kumgang after Seoul failed to meet Friday's final deadline to agree on asset disposal.
South Korean assets at the resort, just north of the border, are estimated to be worth about US$285 million.
North Korea gave the South Koreans working there 72 hours to leave. South Korea's Unification Ministry website said 14 of its nationals were stationed at the complex.
Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sungsaid: "We cannot accept this ultimatum and hold North Korea responsible for all of the consequences that may follow."
The resort was built by an affiliate of the South's Hyundai Group at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. It was opened in 1998 and has been visited by more than a million South Koreans.
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