North Korean leader Kim Jong Il backpedaled from his promise to visit Seoul within the year, despite President Kim Dae-jung repeatedly urging him to announce a detailed schedule for the trip. At the end of November, the government finally acknowledged that it was unsure as to whether he would ever visit. This and the unilateral halting of talks has brought inter-Korean relations to a deadlock, while at the same time the Mount Kumgang tourism project faces a crisis.