Hyundai Asan forced to halt all tour projects to North Korea

(ATTN: ADDS with comments by business representatives in paras 11-16)
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean company operating businesses in North
Korea said Monday it will be forced to suspend its remaining tour program to the
North's western border city from next month amid deteriorating inter-Korean
relations.
North Korea delivered a message to Hyundai Asan Corp., the North Korean business
arm of South Korea's Hyundai Group, saying the tour program to the North's city
of Kaesong will be halted from Dec. 1, the company said.
The message from Ri Dok-su, a senior North Korean official in charge of the tour
program, came hours after the North's official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA)
reported that Pyongyang will "selectively expel" South Koreans from Kaesong from
next month in retaliation against the South Korean government's hard-line stance
against the North.
North Korea "will have no choice but to halt the Kaesong tour program from
December," Ri said in the message.
Ri said prospects for the North's business projects with Hyundai Asan "depend on
the South's attitude. The North hopes the current abnormal situation to be
swiftly resolved."
Hyundai Asan said it will suspend the one-day tour to Kaesong and withdraw all of
its staff from Dec. 1.
"We hope that South and North Korea will normalize inter-Korean businesses as
soon as possible," the company said in a statement.
The outlook for the inter-Korean industrial complex in Kaesong, where more than
80 South Korean plants employ about 35,000 North Korean workers, dimmed as the
North Korean report on Monday confirmed that Pyongyang will cut off all
inter-Korean exchanges from Dec. 1, jeopardizing all three inter-Korean business
projects.
The first tour project to the North's Mount Geumgang has been suspended since
July, when a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier.
The three business projects with the North were put into place by the two liberal
predecessors of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
Related to the announcement to suspend the tours and possible repercussions at
the complex, a representative for South Korean companies said the North has
extended assurances that there will be no disruptions to corporate activities.
Bae Hae-dong, the vice chairman of companies operating out of Kaesong, said that
he met with a North Korean official for 10 minutes to discuss the latest
developments.
"The official said that while tours will be stopped and measures will be taken to
control the movement of members of the Kaesong Industrial District Management
Committee, no restrictions are to be imposed on South Korean businesses," the
entrepreneur told Yonhap News Agency.
"The sentiment seems to be that the North wants to protect South Korean
companies," he said.
Other businesses that have contacted North Korean officials said that the
reduction in the number of South Korean personnel is inevitable, but added that
Pyongyang has stated that the management of the firms will not be hindered.
They said that the North has requested to know the exact number of South Korean
personnel in the industrial complex.
Relations between the two Koreas have soured since President Lee took office in
February with a pledge to take a harder stance toward North Korea.
(END)