Hyundai Asan Expands Operations in North Korea
Six years ago North Korea opened up some of the port to South Korean business partner Hyundai Asan Corp. to operate tour off scenic Mount Geumgang.
Last week, on the the six-year anniversary of the mountain tour program, Pyongyang also gave the go-ahead for Hyundai to start building two golf courses in the hills overseeing the port.
Hyundai Asan plans two golf courses - one of nine holes and the other over a regular 18 holes - with completion scheduled for late next year in a project regarded by many officials here as a sign that the communist state is moving toward a market economy.
A article in the Korean Herald noted that signs of capitalism are already sprouting in the tour area.
North Korean tour guides hawk souvenirs such as handkerchiefs and Korean traditional liquor made from rice(soju) for US$3.
"Something unimaginable in the past has been taking place these days," said Cho Woo-kyung, an assistant manager at Hyundai Asan.
"When the tour started six years ago, North Korean tour guides, with serious look on their faces, were more concerned with ensuring South Korean tourists did not spit or throw any trash on the mountain. Now they are much more interested in making money," said Cho, who has been managing tours for many years.
Hyundai Asan head Hyun Jeong-eun said in a speech at a ceremony marking the anniversary that Mount Geumgang has made an invaluable contribution to easing tensions and enhancing Korea's international credibility.
Some 822,200 people have visited the resort, and this provided the impoverished North with some $500 million in hard cash. Hyundai pays $50 for each tourist visting the North on a three-day tour.
For several years, tourists were initially taken to and from Mount Geumgang by Hyundai ship but tours are now overland by bus across the border, and the operation has instilled new life into the debt-ridden business.
I find it interesting that one South Korean tour guide at Hyundai Asan said North Koreans have become accustomed to the "taste of money."
Tour guides and bar waitress sometimes sing for tourists to earn tips - in U.S. dollars, the favorite currency in a flourishing black market.
The tour guide said North Koreans want to study foreign languages and tourism-related subjects in schools so that they can work in the tourism business, a stark contrast to a former preference to join the armed forces. Tours of duty in the North Korean military are reported to be 8 years, often spent doing manual labor on public works projects.
But Unification Ministry and Hyundai officials said it is too early to say the free market ideology has started to spread across the reclusive state.
"Pyongyang is happy with money it gets through capitalism, but it is also concerned, as it could erode people's loyalty to the regime," one senior South Korean Unification Ministry official said.
Last week, on the the six-year anniversary of the mountain tour program, Pyongyang also gave the go-ahead for Hyundai to start building two golf courses in the hills overseeing the port.
Hyundai Asan plans two golf courses - one of nine holes and the other over a regular 18 holes - with completion scheduled for late next year in a project regarded by many officials here as a sign that the communist state is moving toward a market economy.
A article in the Korean Herald noted that signs of capitalism are already sprouting in the tour area.
North Korean tour guides hawk souvenirs such as handkerchiefs and Korean traditional liquor made from rice(soju) for US$3.
"Something unimaginable in the past has been taking place these days," said Cho Woo-kyung, an assistant manager at Hyundai Asan.
"When the tour started six years ago, North Korean tour guides, with serious look on their faces, were more concerned with ensuring South Korean tourists did not spit or throw any trash on the mountain. Now they are much more interested in making money," said Cho, who has been managing tours for many years.
Hyundai Asan head Hyun Jeong-eun said in a speech at a ceremony marking the anniversary that Mount Geumgang has made an invaluable contribution to easing tensions and enhancing Korea's international credibility.
Some 822,200 people have visited the resort, and this provided the impoverished North with some $500 million in hard cash. Hyundai pays $50 for each tourist visting the North on a three-day tour.
For several years, tourists were initially taken to and from Mount Geumgang by Hyundai ship but tours are now overland by bus across the border, and the operation has instilled new life into the debt-ridden business.
I find it interesting that one South Korean tour guide at Hyundai Asan said North Koreans have become accustomed to the "taste of money."
Tour guides and bar waitress sometimes sing for tourists to earn tips - in U.S. dollars, the favorite currency in a flourishing black market.
The tour guide said North Koreans want to study foreign languages and tourism-related subjects in schools so that they can work in the tourism business, a stark contrast to a former preference to join the armed forces. Tours of duty in the North Korean military are reported to be 8 years, often spent doing manual labor on public works projects.
But Unification Ministry and Hyundai officials said it is too early to say the free market ideology has started to spread across the reclusive state.
"Pyongyang is happy with money it gets through capitalism, but it is also concerned, as it could erode people's loyalty to the regime," one senior South Korean Unification Ministry official said.
Comments
Post a Comment