Is Individual Travel to North Korea Possible?.. Ministry of Unification "Under Review" to Ease Tensions

[Financial News] The government announced on the 21st that it is internally discussing various measures to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula, including allowing individual tourism to North Korea.
It is known that such measures were officially mentioned recently at the National Security Council (NSC) chaired by President Lee Jaemyung. However, there is skepticism about the feasibility, as the resumption of dialogue between the two Koreas to ensure the safety of individual tourists must precede. Since the Geumgangsan shooting incident in 2008, group tours between the two Koreas have been completely suspended.
The Ministry of Unification stated on the 21st regarding individual tourism to North Korea, "The government is establishing and promoting policies toward North Korea with the goal of easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and improving inter-Korean relations, and is reviewing various measures in this process."
The government views individual tourism as an area not included in sanctions against North Korea. The Lee Jaemyung government is tentatively reviewing non-profit, humanitarian individual tourism unrelated to sanctions related to large cash inflows such as remittances to North Korea. Three options are being discussed: direct tourism from South to North, tourism via a third country, and foreign tourists' inter-Korean tourism.
During the Moon Jae-in administration, three methods of individual tourism were proposed: visits to Geumgangsan and Kaesong by separated families, South Korean citizens visiting North Korea via a third country, and foreign tourists' inter-Korean tourism. At that time, North Korea's lack of response, U.S. interests, and the South Korean government's procedures for approving visits to North Korea were major obstacles.
However, North Korea's "hostile two-state theory" stance, lack of inter-Korean communication channels, and the interests of the international community, including the U.S., are pointed out as factors hindering realization. A government official cautiously stated that it is in the "stage of reviewing long-term possibilities rather than immediate resumption of tourism."
Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, is actively developing tourist sites on the east coast, including Wonsan, to earn foreign currency and expand economic activities. Recently, through the opening of the Wonsan-Kalma Coastal Tourism Zone, Russian tourists are being attracted, and the fact that Kim Jong-un held a yacht meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister in Wonsan is interpreted in connection with North Korea's intention to attract tourism.






rainman@fnnews.com Kim Kyungsoo Reporter