Kim orders to destroy South's resort in North

October 24, 2019 00:00:00

SEOUL, Oct 23 (AP): North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the destruction of South Korean-made hotels and other tourist faclities at the North's Diamond Mountain resort, apparently because Seoul won't defy international sanctions and resume South Korean tours at the site.

Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday that Kim had visited the resort and described its facilities as "shabby" and lacking national character. The report said Kim criticized North Korea's policies pushed under his late father as too dependent on the South.

Kim's comments came during a prolonged freeze in relations with Seoul and are a major setback to liberal South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who met Kim three times last year while expressing ambitions to reboot inter-Korean economic engagement, which looks increasingly less likely amid faltering nuclear negotiations between Washington and Seoul.

South Korean officials held back direct criticism on Kim's remarks, saying they need to take a closer look at the North's intent.

Lee Sang-min, spokesman of Seoul's Unification Ministry, said the South will "actively defend the property rights of our people" and plans to accept any proposed talks by North Korea over the facilities.

He didn't offer a specific answer when asked whether the South could do anything to stop the North if it begins to tear down the facilities unilaterally.

Tours to Diamond Mountain were a major symbol of cooperation between the Koreas before the South suspended them in 2008 after a North Korean guard fatally shot a South Korean tourist there.

Seoul can't restart inter-Korean economic activities without defying sanctions against Pyongyang, which have been strengthened since 2016 when the North began speeding up its nuclear development.

Kim instructed officials to entirely remove the "unpleasant-looking 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. Kumkang," the KCNA said.