1,000 Southerners to Visit NK Next Month
2003-07-09
Hyundai Asan, the operator of the Mt. Geumgang tourism project in North Korea, plans to invite 1,000 South Koreans, including its pro-league basketball players, to Pyongyang next month.
The visitors will go to Pyongyang via a temporary cross-border access road built to restore rail links between the two Koreas during the middle of last month, in order to participate in a ceremony to mark the completion of a stadium in Pyongyang honoring the late Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung.
But it is not clear whether the two Koreas will authorize the land route visit.
In 1998, Chung Ju-yung, at the age of 83, became the first civilian South Korean to cross into North Korea at the border at Panmunjeom along the demilitarized zone.
With a 1,000 head of cattle, Chung met North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to negotiate a cruise ship tourism project to the scenic resort on the North's east coast.
After Chung's return, Hyundai Asan began operating the tour in a $942 million deal with North Korea.
"After months of negotiations, Hyundai Asan got approval from North Korea to invite civilians to Pyongyang to attend the ceremony," said an Asan official, who asked not to be named.
Construction on the 12,309-seat Pyongyang stadium began in July 2000, two years after Chung met with North Korean Workers' Party Secretary Kim Yong-sun for talks.
The construction was nearly completed in late February but the ceremony to mark the completion has so far been suspended.
Source : www.korea.net
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