North-South mountain tours to start

The Korean delegation for a tour of the Mount Baekdu are of North Korea, composed of 100 tourists and 10 entourages, will leave for the North Sept. 22, guided by Kim Jae-Kee, chairman of the chairman of Korea Tourism Association.

The Baekdu tour is the first of the inter-Korean exchange visits to the mountain and to Mount Halla on Jeju Island by North Koreans, as agreed at the South-North ministerial talks.

The South Korean tourist team will leave Kimpo International Airport at 1 p. m. and fly to Sunan Airport in Pyongyang, aboard an Asiana Airlines flight, via a direct air route between the two Koreas. Then they will be transported to Samjiyeon by a North Korean flight and tour the scenic mountains and the North Korean capital for seven days.

The tourists consist of people from economic, cultural and artistic, journalistic, sports, women¡¯s and juvenile groups. The total expense for the trip is 1,578,000 won per person, to be borne by themselves.

summer@donga.com