Mt. Geumgang tours will reportedly re-start this month, with at least two Chinese travel agencies now advertizing for travelers wishing to pay around $600 to visit a range of places in addition to the former inter-Korean resort area.
Jilin Province Daeshin International Travel Agency is organizing tour courses connecting Shenyang in Liaoning Province with Pyongyang and Mt. Geumgang for four nights and five days starting on the 16th of this month. Yanbian Chunwoo International Travel Agency is also seeking travelers to go from Yanji in Jilin Province to Pyongyang on the 12th of next month for either a three or four-night stay, again including time at the Mt. Geumgang resort.
The tourists going from Shenyang travel with Koryo Air then by bus upon arrival at Pyongyang Sunan Airport. The first day, after visiting the West Sea Barrage in Nampo and Pyongyang, the visitors stay at the Yanggakdo Hotel. On the second day they go to Mt. Keumgang, staying overnight at the Geumgang Hotel. Two days later, they return to China.
Travelers who arrive in Pyongyang from Yianji will get on another flight from Sunan Airport for the 30 minutes to Wonsan, traveling by bus from there to Mt. Geumgang.
According to an official from Daeshin, “The first set of travelers will leave on the 16th, and there are 30 travelers so far.” The cost of the trip stated on their homepage is 3,980 Yuan, or approximately $630.
Meanwhile, a Chunwoo official noted, ”We only just started, so there are not many travelers so far.” The cost, he said, is much the same.
On the realization of travel from China to the former inter-Korean business venture, a South Korean Ministry of Unification official said, “Mt. Geumgang tours offered through a Chinese travel agency are a clear breach of contract, and we are making a diplomatic effort to get China to admit [that South Korean companies hold the exclusive right to conduct the tours].”
“Visiting North Korea without the permission of the South Korean government is a violation of exchange and cooperation legislation,” he added.
Hyundai Asan, an arm of the massive Hyundai Group, holds the exclusive right to Mt Geumgang and Kaesong tours, but has been unable to offer them since 2008, when a South Korean tourist was shot and killed by a North Korean guard at the mountain resort.
Although Kim Jong Il gave a personal assurance that the shooting would not be repeated during an August 2009 meeting with the chairwoman of the Hyundai Group, Hyun Jeong Eun, the South Korean government of Lee Myung Bak was unconvinced and refused to restart the project.
