Hyundai Asan aims to resume tours to N. Korea despite tensions

(ATTN: Please note the new spelling Mount Kumgang in paras 2, 3. The change from Geumgang to Kumgang is in conformity with North Korean Romanization)
SEOUL, Feb. 4 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean company operating businesses in North
Korea said Wednesday it will make major efforts to resume tours to the North's
scenic mountain in April, despite worsening inter-Korean ties.
The chance of resuming the tours to the North's Mount Kumgang, which have been
suspended since July last year when a South Korean tourist was fatally shot by a
North Korean soldier, appears remote however, as Pyongyang recently took a series
of actions to potentially inflame tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
"The tour to Mount Kumgang should be resumed in April by all means," said Cho
Kun-shik, chief executive of Hyundai Asan Corp., the South's tour operator.
Cho, a former vice minister with the South's unification ministry in charge of
North Korean affairs, said the company is pulling out all the stops to resume the
tour.
The tour suspension has cost Hyundai Asan 100 billion won (US$72.4 million) in
lost sales, according to the company.
On Tuesday, South Korean government officials said the North was preparing to
test-launch a long-range ballistic missile, citing U.S. satellite images of a
North Korean train carrying the missile.
Last week, North Korea said it nullified all agreements on easing military
tensions with the South, in what many analysts say was a stepped-up retaliatory
step against Seoul's hard-line policy toward it and attempt to increase its
leverage before U.S. President Barack Obama finalizes his policy on the communist
state.
(END)