North Korea to expel South staff from resort
(Adds details, quotes)
By Jon Herskovitz
SEOUL, Aug 9 (Reuters) - North Korea said on Saturday it will expel all South Koreans working at its Mount Kumgang resort from this weekend after tensions escalated last month when one of its soldiers shot dead a South Korean tourist there.
"The measure of expelling personnel of the South side unnecessary in the tourist area of Mount Kumgang shall take effect from August 10," the North's official KCNA news agency cited a military official as saying.
Nearly two million South Koreans have visited the resort, located just north of the heavily armed border on the east coast and run by an affiliate of the South's Hyundai Group, since it opened in 1998.
South Korean housewife Park Wang-ja, 53, was shot dead when she wandered into a military area with sparse fencing to watch the sun rise while on a holiday. The South has been angered by the North's refusal to cooperate in the investigation while the North has demanded an apology.
"The South Korean puppets, however, far from coming to their senses, are persistently pulling up the Korean People's Army over its just self-defensive measure and thereby pushing the North-South relations to a graver phase," KCNA quoted the military official as saying.
Ties between the Koreas have soured since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February and said that the free flow of aid the North had seen under his predecessors would be cut and Seoul would tie its largess to how Pyongyang behaves.
North Korea threatened about a week ago to expel South Korean staff at Mount Kumgang, once hailed as a milestone in reconciliation between the countries technically still at war who position more than one million troops near their border.
South Korea suspended tourism to the resort shortly after the shooting on July 11. Hyundai Asan has kept about 200 staff members at the resort that boasts hotels, mountain trails, a golf course and restaurants featuring North Korean cuisine.
The resort has provided a steady flow of foreign currency to the cash-starved North, with Pyongyang charging tourists to cross the border and taking a cut of the money they spend at Kumgang. (Additional reporting by Kim Yeon-hee; Editing by Valerie Lee) (For related factbox see KOREA-COOPERATION (FACTBOX) or click on [ID:nSEO19945])
By Jon Herskovitz
SEOUL, Aug 9 (Reuters) - North Korea said on Saturday it will expel all South Koreans working at its Mount Kumgang resort from this weekend after tensions escalated last month when one of its soldiers shot dead a South Korean tourist there.
"The measure of expelling personnel of the South side unnecessary in the tourist area of Mount Kumgang shall take effect from August 10," the North's official KCNA news agency cited a military official as saying.
Nearly two million South Koreans have visited the resort, located just north of the heavily armed border on the east coast and run by an affiliate of the South's Hyundai Group, since it opened in 1998.
South Korean housewife Park Wang-ja, 53, was shot dead when she wandered into a military area with sparse fencing to watch the sun rise while on a holiday. The South has been angered by the North's refusal to cooperate in the investigation while the North has demanded an apology.
"The South Korean puppets, however, far from coming to their senses, are persistently pulling up the Korean People's Army over its just self-defensive measure and thereby pushing the North-South relations to a graver phase," KCNA quoted the military official as saying.
Ties between the Koreas have soured since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February and said that the free flow of aid the North had seen under his predecessors would be cut and Seoul would tie its largess to how Pyongyang behaves.
North Korea threatened about a week ago to expel South Korean staff at Mount Kumgang, once hailed as a milestone in reconciliation between the countries technically still at war who position more than one million troops near their border.
South Korea suspended tourism to the resort shortly after the shooting on July 11. Hyundai Asan has kept about 200 staff members at the resort that boasts hotels, mountain trails, a golf course and restaurants featuring North Korean cuisine.
The resort has provided a steady flow of foreign currency to the cash-starved North, with Pyongyang charging tourists to cross the border and taking a cut of the money they spend at Kumgang. (Additional reporting by Kim Yeon-hee; Editing by Valerie Lee) (For related factbox see KOREA-COOPERATION (FACTBOX) or click on [ID:nSEO19945])
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