S. Korea mulls N. Korean proposal for talks on cross-border tours

SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will soon decide whether to accept North
Korea's proposal for talks on reopening tours to two border areas in the North, a
Seoul official said Friday, suggesting the decision is due early next week.

North Korea proposed Thursday that the talks be held Jan. 26-27 at Mount Kumgang,
the latest sign of its willingness to mend ties with the South and generate
income for its cash-strapped economy.
Tours to the mountain on the east coast were suspended in July 2008 after a South
Korean tourist wandered into a restricted zone near the resort and was shot to
death by a North Korean guard. Tours to the historic border town of Kaesong near
the west coast were suspended several months later.
In a briefing at South Korea's Unification Ministry, spokesman Chun Hae-sung
reiterated the tours will not resume until North Korea agrees to a joint on-site
investigation into the shooting death and a set of measures aimed at protecting
the security of South Korean tourists.
"The government position has not changed," he said, adding Seoul is considering
whether to accept the North Korean proposal to hold talks on ways to resume the
tours. "It has no plans to announce a response today."
North Korea is estimated to have earned nearly US$490 million through the Mount
Kumgang tours since they began in 1998. More than 1.9 million South Koreans have
visited the scenic mountain, while over 110,000 toured Kaesong in 2008 alone.
The proposal for talks came a day after North Korea agreed to hold a meeting with
South Korea to discuss the results of a recent joint inspection of industrial
parks in China and Vietnam by their officials.
The Tuesday meeting in Kaesong, where the two Koreas have set up a joint
industrial complex, will be the first official contact this year between the
countries, which remain technically at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended
without a peace treaty.
Under a slogan calling to transform itself into a "strong and prosperous nation"
by 2012, North Korea said in its New Year's Day message that it will step up
efforts to create foreign revenue as part of a campaign to raise the standard of
living for its people.
(END)

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