Mt. Kumgang to be opened to Japanese tourists

Kumgang Mountains will be opened to Japanese tourists soon.

On August 15, Hyundai Asan stated that a total of 41 people, including 30 local Japanese and 11 Korean-Japanese working at Hyundai Electronics` Tokyo legal corporation and Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., Ltd., in Japan, will tour the Kumgang Mountains via the Kumgang-ho and Poongak-ho cruise ships August 18. The announcement follows a promise by Kim Jong-Il, chairman of the (North Korean) National Defense Committee, to Chung Mong-Hun, head of Hyundai Asan, who recently visited North Korea, that unrestricted tours of the Kumgang Mountains, including those for Japanese and Koreans living overseas, will be permitted.

North Korea had not permitted Japanese to tour the mountain range until now for political reasons such as the ongoing North Korea-Japan negotiations on establishing diplomatic ties. Experts believe Pyongyang changed its position to gain further cooperation from the international community, including Japan, in its economic ventures. Hyundai forecasts that as a result of this measure, 200,000 Japanese will travel to the Kumgang Mountains every year, and it is pursuing the formation of an integrated entertainment estate by forming a consortium with foreign corporations, including Japanese corporations. In related news, Hyundai stated that a total of 50 corporate executives and tourism representatives will conduct on-site inspections of Jangjun Port and other places this month to investigate investment possibilities.