EDITORIAL from Korea Times on Aug. 23

North's unilateral action : Mount Kumgang tour faces catastrophic end North Korea has threatened to dispose of all South Korean property at the Mount Kumgang resort. This unilateral action is in violation of a contract signed between the North and Hyundai Asan, the South Korean operator of the inter-Korean tourism program. If Pyongyang translates the threat into action, Hyundai and other South Korean investors could lose all their assets estimated at 300 billion won ($284 million). It is deplorable that the North is trying to terminate the tour project, once a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation. Unabashedly, the North has continued to pass the buck. Needless to say, the North is totally responsible for the suspension of the tour program that came after a female South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean guard in the resort in 2008. However, the North has not made any effort to resume the tour. It has refused to accept the South???s demand for an apology for the killing, a measure to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents and a guarantee of tourists??? safety. No Southern tourists would travel to Mount Kumgang unless the North meets the demand. It is highly regrettable that Pyongyang has only attempted to shift the blame for the tourism fiasco onto the South. The North has also tried to attract Chinese tourists to the mountain, ignoring Hyundai???s monopoly over tours not only for South Koreans but also for foreigners. Besides, it has repeatedly threatened to confiscate South Korean assets there. The North has more to lose than to grain from its unilateral action. The disposal will only sap its efforts to attract foreign capital, not to mention investment by South Koreans. It will also have a negative effect on the Kaesong Industrial Complex. Some firms have been considering withdrawing from the inter-Korean complex since the North???s military sank the South???s warship Cheonan and shelled Yeonpyeong Island last year. Pyongyang officials must bear in mind that they cannot draw investment from South Korea and other countries without having their trust. Economic cooperation and exchanges between the two Koreas have come to a standstill in the wake of the North???s nuclear experiment, long-range missile tests and the provocations against the South. We urge the North to scrap its plan to dispose of the South Korean assets in Mount Kumgang. Then, it should go all-out to restart the tourism program unless it wants to bring a catastrophic end to already-frayed inter-Korean ties. It must also abandon its nuclear program, stop saber-rattling and come back to a dialogue to discuss ways of ending enmity and settling peace on the peninsula.