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Reuters (23 October 2019)

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said South Korea’s “backward” and “shabby” facilities at the North’s Mt Kumgang resort must be removed and rebuilt in a modern way, state media reported on Wednesday, in the latest sign of cooling relations between the neighbors.

Mt Kumgang was one of two major inter-Korean economic projects, along with the Kaesong industrial zone, and an important token of cooperation between the two Koreas during decades of hostilities following the 1950-53 Korean War.

But Kim, while inspecting the tourist spot on North Korea’s east coast, issued rare criticism for the “very wrong, dependent policy of the predecessors” who relied on the South to develop “our land won at the cost of blood”.

“The buildings are just a hotchpotch with no national character at all,” Kim said, according to the official KCNA news agency, before likening them to “makeshift tents in a disaster-stricken area or isolation wards”.

“They are not only very backward in terms of architecture but look so shabby as they are not taken proper care of,” Kim said.

He called for the “unpleasant-looking facilities” to be removed through consultations with the South, and rebuilt to “meet our own sentiment and aesthetic taste” alongside other tourist zones, including the Wonsan-Kalma coastal area and Masikryong ski resort.

It was a “mistaken idea” that tours to Mt Kumgang would not be possible without the South’s help, Kim said.

Seoul’s Unification Ministry, in charge of inter-Korean affairs, said it was examining the North’s intentions.

“If there’s any request from the North, we’re always willing to hold discussions on the aspects of protecting our citizens’ property rights, the spirit of inter-Korean agreements and the resumption of tours to Mt. Kumgang,” ministry spokesman Lee Sang-min told a briefing on Wednesday.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-southkorea/north-korea-leader-kim-vows-to-clear-south-korea-relics-from-kumgang-resort-idUSKBN1X12N1