New York firm in N. Korea tour deal needs approval from Washington: official

By Kim Kwang-tae
SEOUL, Aug. 5 (Yonhap) -- A small New York-based company selected by North Korea to revive a stalled tour program to a mountain resort in the isolated country needs the endorsement of the U.S. government for its project, a South Korean official said Friday.
The U.S. Executive Order 13570 that took effect in April prohibits the importation into the United States, directly or indirectly, of any goods, services, or technology from North Korea.
Under the order, the envisioned tour program to North Korea's Mount Kumgang by Korea Pyongyang Trading U.S.A. is subject to the U.S. government's approval, the official said.
The company, headed by a Korean-American businessman, has yet to file an application with the U.S. government for approval of its proposed tour project in the North, the official said on the condition of anonymity, citing office policy.
U.S. State Department officials in Washington were not immediately available for comment.
The comments by the South Korean official came days after the New York firm signed a memorandum of understanding with the North on the tour program.
South and North Korea launched the joint tour program in 1998 as a key symbol of the fledging reconciliation on the divided peninsula.
The cross-border program had served as a cash cow for the North before Seoul halted it in 2008 following the shooting death of a South Korean tourist at the resort.
Earlier this year, the North announced a law designed to develop the resort as a special zone for international tours after unilaterally terminating exclusive tourism rights for Hyundai Asan, a key South Korean tour operator at the resort.
Pyongyang has recently threatened to dispose of South Korean assets at the resort in the coming weeks unless South Korean investors either join the North's new international tour program or lease, transfer or sell their assets during the period.