(EDITORIAl from the Korea Herald on Feb. 11)

No hurry

Cash-strapped North Korea is eager for tours to Mount Geumgang and Kaesong to
resume soon, yet it is unwilling to meet preconditions set by Seoul in order for
the tours to restart.

Officials from the two Koreas met Monday at the North Korean border town of
Kaesong to discuss the resumption of the tours, some 19 months after Seoul halted
the Mount Geumgang tours following the shooting death of a South Korean tourist
there.
As was expected, Seoul stuck to its preconditions and Pyongyang sought to duck
them. The South again called for a joint on-site investigation into the shooting
death of Park Wang-ja, a plan to prevent similar incidents, and a guarantee of
visitor safety.
The North, in turn, dismissed the demand for a joint probe into Park's death,
claiming that the inspection of the shooting site by the Mount Geumgang resort
officials and the handover of Park's body was sufficient. As for the prevention
of similar incidents and a guarantee of personal safety, the North said that the
issues were resolved last August between Hyundai Group, which operates the tours,
and the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, a North Korean organization which oversees
inter-Korean exchanges.
Monday's working-level meetings -- one in the morning and another in the
afternoon -- totaled less than two hours, an indication that the two sides were
unable to narrow their differences.
Yet, North Korea clearly wants to see the tours resume soon. It even came to the
meeting with a draft agreement, setting March 1 and April 1 as starting dates for
Kaesong and Mount Geumgang tours, respectively. The South has no timetable for
the resumption of the tours.
The North showed its eagerness to continue the talks, suggesting a second round
of meetings on Friday. The South clearly had the upper hand, turning down all of
the North Korean proposals.
Mount Geumgang tours have been a cash cow for North Korea. The communist state
earned more than $500 million from the Mount Geumgang tours in the past decade.
With its economy in a shambles and the U.N. sanctions cutting off virtually all
sources of foreign currency, North Korea is desperate to have the tours
restarted.
The South, on the other hand, is not in any hurry to resume the tours. The
government is insisting on having its three preconditions met by the North before
the tours can begin again.
The North should realize that without a proper accounting of Park's death, the
tours cannot restart. Similarly, even if the South Korean government okays the
resumption of tours without North Korean guarantees for the safety of visitors,
the tours will fail to attract participants.
The North sought to place the blame for the failure of Monday's talks on the
South. The North Korean state media said the working-level meetings failed
because of South Korea's insincere attitude.
Although no date has been set for the next round of talks, several rounds of
talks are inevitable before the tours can resume. North Korea must come to the
next meeting ready to meet Seoul's preconditions.
(END)

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