The Ministry of Unification has announced that it cannot accept North Korea’s recent unilateral measures against South Korean staff and assets inside the Mt. Geumgang tourist zone, and has called on the North to help recover the situation.
Ministry spokesperson Cheon Hae Seong released the government’s position in a briefing this afternoon, telling reporters, “With regards to Mt. Geumgang tourism, we safely retrieved 16 people, 14 of our citizens and 2 people of Chinese nationality, on the 23rd.”
“Obviously this makes it clear once again that all responsibility lies with the North Korean side,” he added, going on, “At the same time as consulting closely with our businessmen, we will watch what concrete measures North Korea takes, while looking into all possible legal and diplomatic measures.”
As revealed yesterday, South Korea is not discounting any possible future measure, including the possibility of taking the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) or Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).
South Korea has also made clear that it is willing to attend additional meetings with the North to try and find a way round the current problems, but it is unclear whether the North is prepared to do so. The North says it is currently trying to attract investors to take over the tours.
