Kim Jong-un orders destruction of South Korea’s ‘unpleasant’ hotels at tourism resort

North Korean leader calls Mount Kumgang ‘shabby’ and lacking in national character

Kim Jong-un visits the Mount Kumgang resort (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

North Korea‘s leader Kim Jong-un has ordered the destruction of “shabby” South Korean-made hotels and other tourist facilities at the North’s Mount Kumgang tourist resort.

Mt Kumgang was one of two major inter-Korean economic projects, the other being the Kaesong industrial zone, and represents an important symbol of cooperation between the two Koreas.

Mr Kim visited the resort and declared it “unpleasant looking” and lacking national character, Pyongyang’s official news agency KCNA reported.

He also said it was a “mistaken idea” for the area to be viewed as a symbol of North-South relations because it is on North Korean soil, and tourism there must not be under the control of the South.

“We will always welcome our compatriots from the south if they want to come to Mt Kumgang after it is wonderfully built as the world-level tourist destination,” Mr Kim added.

Combination photo of Mount Kumgang made by the North Korean government (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

Mr Kim instructed officials to entirely remove facilities built by the South after discussing the matter with South Korean officials and construct ”new modern service facilities our own way that go well with the natural scenery of Mt Kumgang,” KCNA said.

“[Kim] said that the buildings are just a hotchpotch with no national character at all, and that they were built like makeshift tents in a disaster-stricken area or isolation wards,” the agency added.

The North Korean leader also criticised the “mistaken policy of the predecessors” who were dependent on others to develop the tourist spot.

South Korea’s government and companies have built about a dozen tourist facilities in the Diamond Mountain area to accommodate the tours that began in 1998.

However, the South suspended tours in 2008 after a North Korean soldier shot dead a South Korean tourist who had wandered unknowingly into a military area.

North Korea said it took steps to freeze and confiscate all South Korean properties at the resort in 2010 and 2011 after blaming Seoul for the continued suspension in tours.

Only infrequent inter-Korean events, such as reunions of families separated by the 1950-1953 Korean War, have been held there since.

Seoul’s Unification Ministry, which is in charge of inter-Korean affairs, said it was examining the North’s intentions.

“If there’s any request from the North, we’re always willing to hold discussions from the aspects of protecting our citizens’ property rights, the spirit of inter-Korean agreements and the resumption of tours to Mt. Kumgang,” ministry spokesman Lee Sang-min told a briefing on Wednesday.

Tourism is not subject to international sanctions and has increasingly become one of the focal industries central to Mr Kim’s policy of “self-reliant” economic growth.

It comes as the UN’s independent investigator on human rights in the country said nearly of the North Korean population, 11 million people, are undernourished.

Tomas Ojea Quintana said 140,000 children are estimated to be suffering from “undernutrition,” including 30,000 who “face an increased risk of death”.

Additional reporting by agencies