Adolph Archer
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« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2013, 12:38:51 AM » |
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 Since 1998 over one million South Koreans have visited the resort
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Adolph Archer
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« Reply #8 on: August 27, 2013, 12:39:59 AM » |
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Bottles of Azalea Blossom line up along the shelves of a gift shop at the resort
In August 2008 the North Koreans announced that they would expel 'unnecessary' South Korean workers from the resort..
Cho Bong-hyun, a fellow at Seoul’s IBK Economic Research Institute, told the Wall Street Journal: 'The Kumgang tours, to the North’s eyes, are an easy tool to earn hard currency without exposing a number of North Koreans to the outside world.'
Kumgang is home to a range of hotels, golf courses, and beaches and the extravagant resort is set amid 520 square kilometers of mountains.
Since 1998, South Korean and other foreign tourists have been allowed to visit Mount Kumgang, traveling at first by cruise ship, but more recently by bus on a newly-built road through the Korean Demilitarised Zone. |
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Adolph Archer
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« Reply #10 on: August 27, 2013, 12:41:18 AM » |
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 A picture taken in 2005 shows South Koreans on the bus, crying as they bid farewell to North Korean relatives after a family reunion at the resort
In 2002, the area around the mountain was separated from Kangwon-do and organized as a separately-administered Tourist Region, covering 204.6 square miles. Since 1998 over one million South Koreans have visited the resort.
During the 1950 - 1954 conflict many families were separated by the dividing of the peninsula.
More than 70,000 South Koreans have registered for the reunions, which began in 2000 as a symbol of warming ties after the meeting of the rivals' leaders that year that led to politically conciliatory moves.
Over past decades, more than 20,000 South Koreans have been briefly reunited with their relatives, but time is running out for many of the ageing 80,000 still waiting their chance to meet their long-lost family members. |
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