Gov’t Plans to Build Hotel on Dokdo

In a bid to protect South Korea’s sovereignty over the Dokdo islets, the government and the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) decided to actively enhance habitability of the islets by, for example, building a marine hotel. They also decided to rebuild the communication network with North Korea in the wake of the recent shooting death of a South Korean tourist at the Mount Geumgang resort. They also decided to move away from its so-called “quiet diplomacy” with Japan to more active one.

The government and the GNP discussed and agreed upon these measures Sunday at a high-level meeting of officials from both sides including GNP leader Park Hee-tae and Prime Minister Han Seung-soo.

Measures to enhance habitability of the Dokdo islets include building a marine hotel and a comprehensive marine base, ensuring accessibility of citizens, creating a permanent residential village and a Dokdo experience center, and building a Dokdo museum in the Seoul metropolitan area.

They also agreed to develop diverse tourism projects and form a mineral research team. The ruling party also suggested dispatching the Marine Corps instead of the police to beef up security on the islets.

The two sides decided to replace the current title of the measures to ensure South Korea’s sovereignty over the islets from “measures to secure effective control over the Dokdo islets” to “measures to protect territorial rights over the Dokdo islets” since the former one presupposes a territorial dispute.

Meanwhile, the government and the GNP agreed to strengthen the government-led communication network with the North instead of leaving it to a private party such as Hyundai Asan, after concluding that the government’s inept initial response to the tragic incident at the Mount Geumgang resort arose from the meltdown of its intelligence gathering function against the North during the past decade.

Furthermore, the government decided to take charge of the safety training for the tourists heading for the Mount Geumgang resort, and pursue an agreement with North Korea so that the communist country will not use military power against South Korean tourists.

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