South Korea has built dozens of facilities in North Korea’s Diamond Mountain resort to host its citizens’ tourism during a long period of rivalry in the 1990s. But North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2019 described the South Korean facilities there “miserable” and ordered to be destroyed after months of frustration over Seoul’s reluctance to defy US sanctions that prevented the resumption of tours.
The North postponed demolition work in 2020 as part of strict measures to prevent COVID-19.
The South Korean Ministry of Unification, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said on Friday that North Korea was demolishing the Haegumgang Hotel. Anchored in a coastal area of the resort, the floating hotel was a major property among the dozens of facilities South Korea set up to host Diamond Mountain tours, which began in 1998.
Unification Ministry spokesman Cha Deok-cheol said it was unclear whether the North was destroying other facilities at the site. He said Seoul “deeply regrets the unilateral dissolution” of the hotel by North Korea and urged North Korea to join talks to resolve the dispute over South Korean ownership of the site.
Commercial satellite imagery shows that demolition work has been underway for weeks. Cha said Seoul used inter-channel communication channels to demand explanations and talks on the issue, but North ignored the request.
Demolition is taking place amid rising tensions over recent rocket launches. North Korea conducted its first intercontinental ballistic missile test since March 24, 2017, as Kim revives extremist behavior aimed at forcing the United States and other adversaries to accept the North as a nuclear power and lift the mutilation.
South Korea’s Diamond Mountain tours were a major symbol of Korean cooperation and a valuable source of cash for the wrecked economy of the North before the South suspended them in 2008 after a North Korean guard fatally shot a South Korean tourist.
South Korea can not resume mass excursions to Diamond Mountain or any other major inter-Korean economic activity without defying sanctions, which have been stepped up since 2016, when the North began stepping up its nuclear and missile tests. Although UN sanctions do not directly prohibit tourism, they do prohibit the massive transfer of cash that may result from such business activities.
During their brief diplomacy in 2018, South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with Kim three times and promised to resume touring Diamond Mountain, expressing optimism that sanctions could end. However, North Korea cut ties with South Korea following the collapse of US diplomacy in 2019, and Seoul was unable to extract concessions from Washington on its behalf.
