According to a spokesperson for the South Korean Ministry of Unification, South Korea is considering allowing individual tours to North Korea as it looks at ways to improve relations with its neighbor.
The ministry said in a statement on Monday that the government is “writing and pursuing North Korean policies with the intention of easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and strengthening inter-Korean ties” with various measures being considered.
Seoul is now easing its strained ties with its northern rival with the announcement of President Lee Jae-myung’s victory, who has pledged to ease tensions with Pyongyang.
Lee ordered a halt to leaflet campaigns criticizing the North’s leaders by anti-Pyongyang activists in an effort to lower the tensions. He also ordered the suspension of anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts along the border.
The Unification Ministry, which deals with inter-Korean affairs,’s Koo Byung-sam, a spokesperson, declined to comment on a “particular issue.” However, he claimed in a report from the Reuters news agency that he understood that individual tours were not in violation of international sanctions.
Additionally, Lee’s administration is reportedly considering resuming individual trips to North Korea as a tool for resuming negotiations with Pyongyang, according to South Korea’s newspaper Dong-A Ilbo.
Lee mentioned the idea at a July 10 National Security Council meeting, it was reported. According to the report, the government conducted a plan review after quoting a senior official.
North Korea’s limited sources of funding are those that are not subject to UN sanctions for its nuclear and weapons programs.
South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency also reported on Monday that the National Intelligence Service had suspended all of its decades-old broadcasts that targeted the North Korean regime, citing anti-Pyongyang broadcasters.
After the Korean War of 1950-1953 ended without an armistice and not a peace treaty, Lee said he will talk with senior security officials about how to restart dialogue with North Korea, which is technically still at war with the South.
Kim Jong Un’s flagship project, which promotes tourism, recently opened a beach resort in the city of Wonsan. However, a note released on Wednesday by DPR Korea Tour, a website run by the country’s National Tourism Administration, indicates that the tourist destination is temporarily refusing to welcome foreign visitors.
Even after COVID-19 border restrictions were lifted, which made it possible to travel by rail and fly with Russia and China, North Korea’s tourism sector appears to be struggling.
When asked if South Koreans would visit Wonsan, Koo claimed North Korea must first introduce foreign visitors.
