Hyundai, NK agree on $6 million for Mt. Kumgang tours

Hyundai Asan Co. and North Korea have all but agreed to lower the monthly fee paid to Pyongyang for the Mt. Kumgang tours from $12 million to $6 million, Asan president Kim Yoon-Kyu said Monday.

Kim also said that the two sides had agreed on the opening of a land tour course between Unification Observatory at Mt. Sorak in the South and Mt. Kumgang. They also agreed to open a beach resort for tourists at Kosong Port.

In a meeting with reporters, Kim said that Hyundai made these and other agreements with the North`s Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, the channel for inter-Korean cooperation. The Mt. Kumgang tours starting at Unification Observatory would get underway sometime this year at the earliest, he said. Another tour package connecting Japan, Mt. Kumgang and Mt. Sorak may be introduced toward the end of this year, Kim said. Hyundai also plans to expand tourist courses to interior parts of Mt. Kumgang and ``Chongsokjong`` and the free passage zones from Kosong Port to Onjong-gak Pavilion to all tourist courses.

Kim, who also heads Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co., said the company would lose a considerable portion of its capital of 2.1 trillion won if it follows a recommendation by Samil Accounting Corp. to write off at least 30 percent or more of the outstanding fees from its construction work in Iraq.

Kim Dong-Won daviskim@donga.com