The project is a commercial venture whereby North Korea earns hard currency by selling South Koreans a tourism commodity called Mt. Kumgang, earning some US$15,000 per day at a rate of $70 per tourist.

Now, the most important part of commerce is earning your customers’ trust. By closing the door and uninviting South Korean guests who had only three days to go before their departure, North Korea has forfeited that trust. What's more, on the very day the North curtailed the quota for Mt. Kumgang, a first group of South Koreans were touring the northern city of Kaesong under a new pilot program. No wonder nobody knows what Pyongyang thinks it is doing.

The resignation of Kim Yoon-kyu is the internal affair of Hyundai Asan. However much the two Koreas may differ in their political and economic systems, Pyongyang cannot presume to meddle with the personnel decisions of a South Korean corporation. That it has thrown its weight behind a man who had to resign over allegations of corruption, incidentally, is generating speculation about the exact nature of the relationship between Kim the executive down South and Kim the dear leader up North. But whatever it may have been, if North Korea keeps trying to influence a South Korean company this way, it will be hard for inter-Korean relations to improve.

The occasion shows that something must be done about the Mt.Kumgang tourism deal to make sure that the North cannot arbitrarily determine the tourist quota and expect the South to comply unconditionally. The project is not a benevolent act on the part of Pyongyang; it is a business. It needs to reflect the interests of the South.