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North Korea is still refusing to take part in any efforts to find out the truth behind the killing of a South Korean tourist in the Mt. Kumgang resort, even though it has been 10 days since the housewife was shot in the back by a North Korean soldier. The day after the killing, a spokesman for North Korea¡¯s Guidance Bureau for Comprehensive Development of Scenic Spots, which manages the tourism resort on Mt. Kumgang, announced the results of what it called an internal probe into the killing and demanded an apology from the South instead. This is all that we have seen so far in terms of North Korea¡¯s cooperation. We cannot let this incident be forgotten.
North Korea says the shot was fired at around 4:55 a.m., when it was presumably still too dark to distinguish between friend and foe. But photographs taken by a South Korean tourist just before the first shot was heard show it was bright enough to distinguish without difficulty. Based on the timestamp on the photograph, the tourist who took the picture says it was around 5:16 a.m. The accounts of three major witnesses, in addition to the tourist who took the photo, all match this timeframe. The only way to look at it is that North Korea is hiding the truth.
The South Korean government is also pressuring North Korea. Already, it has halted the Mt. Kumgang tours, which were responsible for the influx of US$20 million into the pockets of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il each year. And it has hinted that it could also halt tours to the North Korean border city of Kaesong, after evaluating the safety of South Korean tourists who travel there. The tours to Kaesong are responsible for $15 million in revenue each year for North Korea. Seoul has decided to hold off on any aid to North Korea, ranging from food to equipment and materials, until the incident is resolved.
An investigation has begun into Hyundai Asan, the South Korean company that operates the tours. After learning of the death of the tourist, whose safety Asan should have been responsible for, the first thing the company did was to cut off phone lines to South Korea. Since then, the president of Asan has been acting no differently than the North Korean spokesman. The message seems to be clear: Asan is only interested in money. The South Korean government¡¯s measures against Asan will act as indirect pressure on North Korea.
But there are limits to what Seoul alone can do when it comes to pressuring North Korea. The communist country could even lash back more violently. That is why the prospect of international cooperation in pressuring North Korea is being discussed. This is no easy task. There have been no cases in the past where an international organization like the UN has handled such isolated incidents.
But North Korea has recently staked everything on getting itself struck from a list of state sponsors of terrorism. It may be afraid to have the Mt. Kumgang shooting incident escalate into a global issue. Fortunately, the ASEAN Regional Forum opens in Singapore on Tuesday. The meeting focuses on security issues in the Asian region, and there is a special portion devoted to evaluating conditions in different parts of the region. North Korea is participating in the forum, and the Mt. Kumgang shooting is a case that can be discussed there. Singapore, the U.S. and Australia, which chair the forum, are said to be interested in the incident. Efforts to get it reflected in the joint declaration at the end of the forum should help persuade North Korea to change its stance.
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