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Tourists from South Korea hike at Mt. Geumgang, North Korea, on October 15.
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After North’s test, relative calm seen at tour site
The North’s Mt. Geumgang (Kumgang), one of the largest joint Korean economic projects, was recovering its numbers of tourists, after a rash of mass cancellations following North Korea’s nuclear test on October 9. Reps. Im Jong-in and Jung Chung-rae of the ruling Uri Party and Lee Young-soon of the minority Democratic Labor Party (DLP) visited the scenic mountain on October 15, the same day the U.N. Security Council signed a resolution against Pyongyang. In Goseong, Gangwon Province, 1,025 tourists out of the 1,252 who had made reservations boarded buses to take them across the border to Onjeong-ri, near the base of Mt. Geumgang. Hyundai Asan Corp., the operator of the Mt. Geumgang tours, said that cancellations have been decreasing gradually, after surging up to 64 percent on October 12. Mt. Geumgang was covered with colorful autumn foliage, which gives it a special nickname as the best place to see beautiful seasonal colors. It was difficult to find a sense of strain in the South Korean visitors or in the North Korean staff. Tourists from the South admired the beauty of the mountain, and North Korean vendors, selling specialty items such as mushrooms indigenous to the area, exchanged jokes with the tourists. Kim Jong-dal, 52, from Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, accompanied his wife on the tour, saying, "Frankly speaking, before coming on the tour, I worried about being detained by North Koreans, and I lied to my parents, who are in their 80s, telling them that I would tour Mt. Seorak [in the South] instead. But now that I am here, I can’t feel anything like that."The North Korean guides asked, "[In the South], do people still speak about ’hostages?’ " or "Don’t you know that we won’t attack the South?" Visitors from the South said that the Mt. Geumgang tours should be maintained. O Se-nam, 63, from Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, said, "The nuclear crisis didn’t happen due to the Mt. Geumgang tours. This business should continue so that we can help our fellow countrymen, instead of foreigners [always helping them]." Alan Cassels, president of DHL Korea, who visited Mt. Geumgang with his family, said, "As North Korea’s nuclear test was an anticipated thing, the situation hasn’t changed all that much. There is no reason to stop the Mt. Geumgang tours." Lee Yeong-ju, a university student, noted, "If the Mt. Geumgang tours are stopped, more extreme situations might occur. The media are stirring up a sense of crisis." This October has been a difficult one for the Korean peninsula, and this situation will extend to Mt. Geumgang. Hyundai Asan predicts that due to North Korea’s nuclear test, the number of visitors to the North Korean mountain will be reduced to about 20,000-25,000 in October, compared to nearly 40,000 in past Octobers. North Koreans were also concerned about the situation. Nam Eun-jeong, a guide, said, "Here there are no problems, so I want many South Koreans to come here." The guides working at Mt. Geumgang expressed keen interest in the development of the situation, asking the tourists, "Do you think the nuclear crisis will be resolved? How do you think the National Assembly will deal with the Mt. Geumgang tours?" Rep. Im, regarding his reply to these questions, said, "I confirmed that the South Korean people were watching the issue most serenely and calmly, and that I hope the nation’s politicians will think again about what will be of help to economic stability and peace on the Korean peninsula." This article by Hwang Jun Beom, reporter for the Hankyoreh
