[imText2]Photos of real estate owned by the South Korean government, Korean Tourism Organization or Hyundai Asan which was confiscated or frozen by North Korea in April have been revealed for the first time.
Yoon Sang Hyun, a Grand National Party member of the Diplomacy, Commerce and Unification Committee of the National Assembly released the photos, which he obtained from the Ministry of Unification, alongside a press release this morning.
The five photos contain images of the Mt. Geumgang Family Beach Hotel, Hyundai restaurants, Haegeumgang Hotel, a duty free shop in the eastern building of Oncheongkak and the meeting hall for separated families. Other photos exist, but have not been released by the Ministry.
In the press release, Yoon criticized what he called the irresponsibility of the Ministry vis a vis Mt. Geumgang real estate, saying, “In the more than 160 days since the assets of the ROK administration, state-owned and private companies were confiscated or frozen by North Korea, The Ministry of Unification has neither worked out the price of the assets nor even gotten specific evidence of the situation.”
In particular, North Korea confiscated or froze five assets belonging to the South Korean government or Korean Tourism Organization and 18 private assets in April. However, an aide to Yoon Sang Hyun explained in a telephone interview with The Daily NK that in addition to these cases, many other smaller assets in the area were frozen or confiscated but the Ministry has not obtained any specific evidence related to that. Therefore, the Ministry has failed to obtain all the details on the situation in the region.
Yoon went on, “To a National Assembly hearing request for materials on the price of confiscated or frozen facilities, the Ministry just replied, ‘It is hard to evaluate market prices due to the special nature of the North Korean region.’”
Regarding the North’s measures, Yoon pointed out, “These North Korean confiscation and freezing measures represent eight cases of legal, contractual and agreement infringements in total: three violations of agreements between the North and South Korean authorities; two cases of contract violation; and three infringements of North Korean laws.”
Therefore, Yoon suggested a number of possible counter-measures the South Korean administration and private companies might be able to take; both the Ministry and private companies could urge North Korea to organize a North-South Trade Arbitration Committee, or Hyundai Asan could urge the Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, its business partner, to establish a Conflict Arbitration Committee in Beijing.
However, Yoon concluded, “None of these possible measures have been implemented.”
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