By: Benjamin Katzeff Silberstein
Kim Tok Hun, the North Korean premier, visited the Mt Kumgang Tourism Zone on Sunday December 20th, 2020. KCNA:
He called for pushing ahead with the development project of turning Mt Kumgang area into modern and all-inclusive international tourist and cultural area under yearly and phased plans and thoroughly maintaining the principle of conveniences and architectural beauty first in the construction so that people can fully enjoy natural beauty.
He stressed the need to build the tourist area our own way in which national character and modernity are combined while in good harmony with the natural scenery of the diamond mountain so as to turn the famous mountain of the nation into the one well-known for serving the people and a cultural resort envied by the whole world.
(Source: “Kim Tok Hun Learns about Development of Mt Kumgang Tourist Area,” Korean Central News Agency, 20/12/2020.)
Why pay attention to the tourism industry in the middle of a global pandemic? It may seem odd, but in fact, it follows along the same pattern as many other North Korean pronouncements on economic policy through the year. Consider, for example, Kim Jong-un’s many dressing-downs of industrial managers, who can scarcely be personally blamed for the poor state of the economy. The government knows that the pandemic will be over one day, and is attempting to lay the groundwork for when that happens. Tourism has been a key focus of Kim Jong-un’s economic policy, and the pandemic itself has not changed this.
What does this tell us about North Korean plans for Mt Kumgang? The statement itself does not give any hints of a change in policy direction, but the word “international” above is perhaps noteworthy. North Korea has made clear for some time that it does not intend to involve the South Korean government in plans to develop Mt Kumgang. Rather, it seeks to have tourists come from other neighboring countries, and South Koreans will of course be welcome, depending on how relations between the countries evolve, but not in running the zone. Perhaps the word choice seeks to emphasize this direction.