SEOUL - A Cross-border bus tour of Kaesong, a North Korean city near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), will likely be made possible within this year.
Kaesong has been selected as the site for a large industrial park being envisioned by Hyundai Group after more than a year of unfruitful negotiations with Pyongyang.
In a lengthy press release, the conglomerate said that its former chairman Chung Mong-hun agreed with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on these and other projects to stimulate inter-Korean economic exchanges during his recent two-day trip to Pyongyang.
"The Kaesong industrial park will encompass 20 million pyong (one pyong is equivalent to 3.3 square meters) including a support city, when the project is completed," Hyundai said in the statement.
The group said that a team including members of the Korea Land Corporation is in Kaesong in preparation for a survey next week prior to the start of construction.
Hyundai said that as for the envisioned tour of Kaesong, tourists will likely be transported by bus at first. When the railroad between Seoul and Uiju, a city on the western tip of the North, is restored, Hyundai said that it would be possible to travel by rail, too.
The route would start at Seoul and go through the South Korean border town of Munsan and the truce village of Panmunjom before arriving at Kaesong, Hyundai said. It would take about two hours.
Hyundai said that it would send a team to the North to check up on historical sites and other tourist attractions that would be included in a tour package this month.
At the same time, Hyundai said that its agreement with the North would have a more direct and less time-consuming sea route for the transportation of tourists bound for Mt. Kumgang.
"The new route will cover the sea lane 5 miles from the shore along the Tonghae, South Korea-Changjon, North Korea," Hyundai said. Currently, the cruise ships ferrying Mt. Kumgang tourists, travel the sea route 12 miles from the shore, therefore requiring an overnight travel on sea.
Hyundai said that it also agreed with the North to immediately allow Japanese and ethnic Koreans to tour Mt. Kumgang. Japanese tour agencies and investment firms are scheduled to visit Mt. Kumgang before starting to sell Mt. Kumgang tour programs on Aug. 20.