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Senior US Envoy Questions S. Korean Tourism Project in North
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?r=279&c=659985&l=1009&ctl=1474B49:A6F02AD83191E1602A9477BACD1CB6EF9574F7DCC14957C0 US Ambassador
Christopher Hill says tourism zone in Mount Kumgang seems designed 'to
give money to the North Korean authorities' A senior U.S. envoy has
expressed disapproval of a South Korean tourism project in North
Korea. The U.S. Secretary of State is expected to ask Seoul to take
part in blocking North Korean from trading in banned weapons material.

In what he said was his personal opinion, U.S. Assistant Secretary of
State Christopher Hill Wednesday suggested that a South Korean-built
industrial zone in the North Korean city of Kaesong might have some
merit. But he criticized a South Korean-funded tourism zone at the
North's Mount Kumgang.







South Korean tourists take a rest beside a clear stream as they climb
Mount Kumgang, a famous tourists resort inside North Korea (File
photo)"I think one [Kaesong] is designed to make a long-term
investment in human capital - the other [Kumgang] seems to be designed
to give money to the North Korean authorities," he said.

Officials in Seoul say the two projects will continue despite North
Korea's nuclear test last week.

Also Wednesday, a U.S. official said that Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice will ask South Korea to join a U.S.-led initiative to
halt trafficking in weapons of mass destruction. Rice arrives in Seoul
Thursday to discuss ways to enforce United Nations sanctions that bar
Pyongyang from trading in some weapons material.

 


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