Mt. Halla-Baekdu exchange tour to be possible

An exchange tour to Halla and Baekdu mountain for 100 tourists from North and South Korea may be made possible in early September. Moreover, Geumgang Mountain or Panmunjeom may be designated as a meeting place for separated families.

At the meeting between the government and the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) on August 22, with Lee Hai-Chan, the chief ruling party policymaker and Unification Minister Park Jae-Kyu, the government and the party agreed on the issues.

Unification Minister Park Jae-Kyu revealed that the exchange tour for 100 tourists for Halla and Baekdu mountains will begin with the South Korean tourists visiting Baekdu Mountain in early September first, taking into consideration of the weather conditions, followed by the North Korean tourists visiting Halla Mountain in the middle of September.

Spokesperson Park Byung-Suk of the MDP asserted that the meeting place for separated families will be Geumgang Mountain or Panmunjeom among other debated places such as Cheolwon, Gaeseong and Munsan. He further stated that the details of placing a meeting place and its operation will be discussed at the Red Cross meeting in September.

Cheon Seung-Hoon raphy@donga.com