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North Korea scraps all economic cooperation with South in further blow to inter-Korea ties

  • North Korean state media said laws governing economic ties, including on the operation of the Mount Kumgang tourism project, will be abolished
  • Officials in Seoul said the North’s unilateral action would only deepen its isolation, adding that South Korea does not recognise the move

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits the Mount Kumgang tourism project in 2019. He reportedly called the resort “shabby” and “unpleasant-looking” at the time. Photo: Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP
North Korea’s Supreme People’s Assembly has voted to scrap all agreements with South Korea on promoting economic cooperation, the North’s official news agency reported on Thursday, as the two Koreas’ ties continue to deteriorate.
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The assembly, which takes formal steps to adopt policy decisions of the ruling Workers’ Party, also voted to abolish laws governing economic ties with Seoul, including the special law on the operation of the Mount Kumgang tourism project.

The tours to the scenic mountain just north of the eastern border were a symbol of economic cooperation that began during a period of engagement between the two Koreas in early 2000s, drawing nearly 2 million South Korean visitors.

Tourists walk on a trail at Mount Kumgang in North Korea in 2018. The project drew nearly 2 million South Korean visitors in its heyday. Photo: AP
Tourists walk on a trail at Mount Kumgang in North Korea in 2018. The project drew nearly 2 million South Korean visitors in its heyday. Photo: AP

The project was suspended in 2008 after a South Korean tourist who strayed into a restricted zone was shot and killed by North Korean guards.

Hyundai Asan, an affiliate of the Hyundai Group conglomerate which invested more than 750 billion won (US$564 million) in developing the Kumgang project, declined to comment on the report.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles ties with Pyongyang, said the North’s action was not surprising and would only deepen its isolation. Seoul does not recognise the unilateral move, an official added.

Thursday’s Korean Central News Agency report did not mention the North’s special law governing another major joint economic project, the Kaesong industrial zone, which at its peak housed the factories of 125 South Korean companies employing 55,000 North Korean workers.
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