관광인프라 구축과 금강산 관광사업

Geumgangsan Tour Business as an Infrastructure Investment

The Geungangsan tour business as well as North-South Korean econonuc cooperation is very hard situation in this times. The total number of visitors for Mt. Gcumgang during the last three years reached at 428,723 persons which is much smaller than expected at the beginning stage. The business regarded not only just as the simple sightseeing but also as a historical event for the Korean reunification process. At the beginning stage it was evaluated as a successful output of the present DJ government s sunshine policy, but now it is blamed as a dog in the manger. Now we are on the fence to decide weather to continue or not the project. The number of tourists for Geumkansan is getting smaller and smaller month by month in last year. Thus the managing company, Hyundai-Asan, is in very hard time. In some sense, the Hyundai Asan Co. initiated the lump sum investment for infrastructure development for the tourism as well as reunification which should be done by the government as one of the backbone projects under the special environment. Therefore, in this difficult situation of private base the Korean government should care about to continue the Geumgansan peace process by utilizing the possible policy tools. The Geumgangsan project as mentioned before, in real sense, is a part of the process of Korea reunification. Mt. Geungan has been one of the important meeting points for the North-South dialogue during the sunshine policy. It is widely agreed that the major effects of Geumgansan project were to help to continue the North-South dialogue and to induce and create the stable and favorable foreign investment environment. It must be emphasized that the Geumgangsan business is not regarded just as a simple profit-seeking private business. It should be regarded as a grand strategy for the Korea reunification process. Korean government must cooperate with North Korea to open land tour course to link and stimulate the Geumgansan tour and Arirang festival in Pyungyang during the coming big international events such as the World Cup Football Games in this year. It must be emphasized that the benefits of Geumgansan project would be greater than the cost when the business stoped in economic and political sense. The Geumgansan project should be operated on the bases of trans-interest group, trans-government, trans-generation and trans-national for the peace-keeping and the grand Korean reunification process.