Controversies Behind Agreement of Mt. Keumgang Tour

The ruling and opposing parties confronted with each other again on the suspicion of the behind-the-scene agreement at the Culture and Tourism Committee of the National Assembly. Culture and Tourism Minister Kim Han-Gil attended the committee.

Reps. Nam Kyong-Pil and Chung Byong-Guk of the Grand National Party asserted that ``the testimonies of Minister Kim and Cho Hong-Kyu, CEO of Korea National Tourism Organization, turned out to be a perjury by the releasing of the Hyundai Asan`s confirmation document to the North. The Committee must lodge complaint against them for perjury.``

Rep. Chung Jin-Suk of the United Liberal Democrats also pointed out that ``according to the document, the North could make unreasonable requests by the agreement in 1998. And in terms of the profitability, even when the project creates 6 billion won surplus in 2003, it would be very difficult to balance the total accumulated deficit of 700 billion won by 2002.

However, Reps. Chung Dong-Chae and Lee Mee-Kyong of the New Millennium Democratic Party refuted that ``the document that GNP has insisted as a behind-the-scene agreement is in fact the document released to the public by CEO Kim Yoon-Kyu at the press conference. GNP should stop the political aggressions distorting and exaggerating the fact.``

Rep. Lee argued that ``if everything goes well and foreign tourists increase, the overland tour project is profitable. Moreover, the Mt. Keumgang Tour project will create more synergy effects in our economy by reducing the tensions between the two Koreas and consequently reducing the investment risks of the foreign investors.

Kim Jeong-Hun jnghn@donga.com