North Korean leader visits Mt Kumgang, says land belongs to Pyongyang where he will build new facilities
North Korean leader Wednesday ordered demolition of “shabby” resort facilities constructed by South Korea on Mt. Kumgang, local media reported.
During a visit to Mt. Kumgang resort area, state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that Kim Jong-un said that the buildings are “just a hotchpotch with no national character at all”.
“They were built like makeshift tents in a disaster-stricken area or isolation wards. They are not only very backward in terms of architecture but look so shabby as they are not taken proper care of,” KCNA quoted Kim as having said.
South Koreans had built the resort as a symbol of collaboration, but suspended tours to the place in 2008 after one of its tourists was shot dead by a North Korean soldier for crossing into an off-limits zone.
The tours had earned Pyongyang foreign currency.
Kim, however, said that Mt. Kumgang belonged to North Korea which was “won at the cost of blood and even a cliff and a tree there are associated with our sovereignty and dignity”.
“This is certainly a mistaken idea and a misguided understanding,” said Kim whether Mt. Kumgang was a joint property of the north and the south.
Indicating North may make fresh construction at the site, Kim told his officials: “Structures on our land must be those of our style, rich in national character and they must be created to meet our own sentiment and aesthetic taste.”
Kim asked the officials to remove all the “unpleasant-looking facilities” of the south side with an agreement with the relevant unit of the south side.
The report added that Kim said new modern service facilities will be built “our own way that go well with the natural scenery of Mt. Kumgang”.
