(2nd LD) S. Korea urges N.K. to ‘immediately stop’ dismantling separated family facility at Mt. Kumgang resort
(ATTN: UPDATES with more info in paras 8, 10-14)
SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Yonhap) — The unification ministry said Thursday that North Korea was dismantling a reunion facility for separated families inside its Mount Kumgang tourist area and urged Pyongyang to immediately stop.
Koo Byoung-sam, spokesman at the South Korean ministry, also voiced “strong regrets” over North Korea’s move, vowing to consider legal steps against Pyongyang’s infringement upon the South’s property rights.
The reunion facility for separated families had been the only intact South Korean side-owned structure at the Mount Kumgang resort, as North Korea has demolished all other facilities within the tour zone, once considered a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation.
“We express strong regrets over the unilateral demolition … and sternly urge North Korea to immediately stop it,” Koo said, adding that all responsibilities arising from the incident should lie with North Korea.
The spokesperson denounced the demolition as an act against humanity that “tramples upon” the hopes of separated families and violates South Korea’s property rights.
“We will review necessary measures, including legal action and cooperation with the international community,” he said.
This undated photo, provided by the unification ministry, shows reunion facilities for separated families at the Mount Kumgang tourist area in North Korea. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
With a budget of 51.2 billion won (US$35.2 million) from South Korea, the 12-story building was completed in 2008 through an inter-Korean agreement to host reunions of families from South and North Korea. The two Koreas have remained separated since the 1950-53 Korean War and the subsequent division of the Korean Peninsula.
Since hosting the first family reunion in 2009, five more such events took place at the building between 2010 and 2018, after which the two Koreas have not arranged family reunions due to frosty relations.
As of the end of December, 36,941 South Koreans had registered with the government their wish to reunite with family members in the North, while many others have died of old age without ever having the chance to reunite.
An official at the unification ministry explained that signs of North Korea demolishing the building have been observed since late last year. Currently, its outer tiles and top-floor observation post are being removed, while the walls of its annexed structures are also being dismantled.
The ongoing demolition would leave no South Korean-owned facilities inside the scenic mountain resort, where South Korea had once heavily invested through a joint tourist project.
Last year, North Korea tore down a golf course clubhouse built by a South Korean firm and a fire station built with the South Korean government’s budget after previously removing a hotel and other tourist facilities.
The demolition began in 2022 after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the tourist area in October 2019 and ordered officials to tear down all “unpleasant-looking” facilities built by South Korea, months after his summit with then U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi ended without a meaningful deal.
In 2019, Kim had ordered the construction of a new cultural and tourist zone after demolishing the existing one, but no signs of new construction have been spotted yet.
pbr@yna.co.kr
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