North Korea expels Seoul workers from shared resort
Sunday, 03 Aug 2008 15:36
North Korea to expel South Korean workers from mountain border resort in further sign of deteriorating relations
North Korea says it will expel South Korean workers from a mountain border resort as relations between the neighbours deteriorate further.
On Sunday Pyongyang said it would expel nonessential personnel from the Mount Geumgang resort, which is operated by the south but lies in North Korean territory.
About 260 workers are based at the tourist resort. Seoul said the move was "incomprehensible".
The two countries' relations have already been severely strained by the shooting of a South Korean tourist at the resort last month.
Housewife Park Wang-ja was shot dead on July 11th after straying into a restricted North Korean military zone.
According to Pyongyang the soldier who opened fire could not identify the individual because of poor light and said the person had ran away when told to leave.
But South Korean investigators have claimed Mrs Park was fully-identifiable in morning sunlight and footprints showed she was returning to the tourists' area at a slow pace after being instructed to do so.
Today's development is yet another nail in the coffin of president Lee Myung-bak's predecessor's sunshine policy.
Since the businessman-turned-president assumed office in February his more hardline stance has seen relations deteriorate between the two countries, who are officially still at war.