Seoul warns Pyongyang to stop taking its assets

North Korea

Published: 11 Jul. 2022, 18:27

Seoul warns Pyongyang to stop taking its assets

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits the Mount Kumgang tourist resort in an undated photo released by the Korean Central News Agency on Oct. 23, 2019. The rust-covered Haegumgang Hotel is seen in the background. [YONHAP]

Seoul slammed Pyongyang for expropriating South Korean assets in the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Mount Kumgang tourism area, urging it to stop.

Speaking at a regular press briefing, Unification Ministry spokesman Cho Joong-hoon said Seoul expresses “deep regret” over North Korea’s actions, which he called “a clear violation” of inter-Korean agreements as well as “an infringement of South Korean nationals’ property rights.”

Cho added that infringements of South Korean assets, including the dismantlement of tourism facilities in the Mount Kumgang resort, had been going on since March.

Satellite imagery taken between March 5 and 9 showed signs that North Korea was dismantling a floating hotel formerly operated by South Korean company Hyundai Asan at the resort.

The Unification Ministry spokesman noted that there were signs that the North was operating vehicles without authorization within the Kaesong Industrial Complex, such as a commuter bus that was spotted in North Korean news footage broadcast last week.

The spokesman warned the North that Seoul is “constantly monitoring” the North’s use of South Korean facilities of Mount Kumgang and the Kaesong Industrial Complex.

“The government urges the North to immediately stop all such actions and makes it clear that all responsibility in this regard rests entirely with North Korea,” he said.

The Kaesong Industrial Complex and Mount Kumgang resort were fruits of the Sunshine Policy advocated by liberal South Korean presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun to achieve reconciliation through economic cooperation with the North.

Factories in the Kaesong Industrial Complex were staffed mostly by North Korean workers, with operations overseen by South Korean managers.

The Mount Kumgang resort, which opened in 2002, catered mostly to South Korean visitors, but Seoul suspended tours after North Korean soldiers fatally shot a 53-year-old South Korean tourist who strayed into a nearby military area in 2008.

North Korean state media reported in October 2019 that leader Kim Jong-un wanted to demolish what he called “unpleasant-looking” facilities at the resort, saying they should be removed and rebuilt to “meet [North Korea's] own sentiment and aesthetic taste.”

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]