Seoul may halt Gaeseong tours

The government will consider suspending tours to the North Korean city of Gaeseong if the safety of tourists is not guaranteed, Cheong Wa Dae said yesterday.

It will also push for prompt implementation of an inter-Korean agreement reached in February to form a joint body to safeguard tourists and administer cross-border travels.

For safer tours, the government will consider having its officials stay in the North to oversee the security of South Korean citizens, presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said after the meeting of the National Security Council chaired by President Lee Myung-bak.

The Unification Ministry said the government has formed a team of officials from the ministry, the Prime Minister`s Office and other related bureaus to review the operations of the tours to Mount Geumgang and Gaseong. Investigations will start today.

Yesterday`s meeting was the first session of the top security body since Lee`s inauguration in February. It was convened to discuss the recent killing of a South Korean tourist at Mount Geumgang resort and Japan`s renewed claim to the Dokdo islets.

"We need an all-around investigation to figure out the truth about the killing of an innocent tourist. In addition, it is imperative to devise preventive measures to avoid such incidents in future and also discern to what extent Hyundai Asan should be held accountable as the operator of the tours," Lee said during the three-hour conference.

The NSC meeting was attended by the prime minister, the foreign minister, the National Intelligence Service chief and other top security policymakers.

The council meeting came amid rising calls for the government to address the growing speculation about the dubious killing of Park Wang-ja last week. Park was shot dead by a North Korean solder for being in a restricted area of the resort.

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Witnesses and tour guides have given conflicting testimonies that the North overreacted to Park`s incursion.

But the North remains unwilling to cooperate in a transparent investigation. As one option for persuading Pyongyang, the government is set to raise the tourist killing as a formal discussion topic for the July 22 ASEAN Regional Forum, officials said Thursday.

Yesterday, officials hinted at a delay in sending equipment and materials it promised the North to help reinforce infrastructure in inter-Korean facilities.

Relations with the North have notably soured under President Lee, who was the first president in a decade to be elected from a conservative party.

Lee champions "practical and reciprocal" North Korean policies, but the North views the administration in a negative light.

Pyongyang, under the two previous liberal governments in Seoul, had enjoyed the benefits of softer policies. Kim Jong-il held summits with both former presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun.

The tours to the mountain resort, together with trips to Gaeseong are considered significant in the advancement of inter-Korean ties.

Hyundai Asan president Yoon Man-joon yesterday toured Gaeseong for a security check-up suggested by Unification Minister Hong Yang-ho.

The South Korean government is currently analyzing the closed circuit cameras at Park`s hotel for more clues about her death.

The president yesterday also urged officials to devise plans to counter Japan`s latest claim of sovereignty over Dokdo.

"What we need to pursue are strategic and long-term policies," Lee said.

The Seoul government has recalled its ambassador to Japan to protest Tokyo`s latest decision to claim Dokdo in its teachers` manuals.

Further discussion over the Mount Geumgang killing and Dokdo is expected to take place Sunday during a meeting of representatives of Cheong Wa Dae, government and the ruling Grand National Party.



By Kim Ji-hyun



(jemmie@heraldm.com)