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| Korea |
| GNP to Chiefly Blame for Jong Mong Hon’s Death |
| 2003-08-06 |
| Looks like CSI:Pyongyang is on the case.They’ll get to the bottom of it. A spokesman for the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee released a statement on august 4 as regards the sudden death of Jong Mong Hon, chairman of Hyundai Asan of south Korea. Recalling that Jong Mong Hon left inerasable marks in the history of the reunification movement of the Korean nation through non-governmental cooperation in various fields including tour of Mt. Kumgang as a pioneer of the inter-Korean cooperation, the statement said that his death, in fact, can not be regarded as a suicide. It was murder committed by the sword called "special inspection" illegally engineered by the Grand National Party of south Korea displeased with the development of the inter-Korean relations, the statement noted, and continued: We bitterly denounce the GNP in the name of the whole Korean nation for such political murder. They sound pissed. How bad did this hit them in the pocketbook? The murder of the man who started the tour of Mt. Kumgang, a symbol of the inter-Korean cooperation, put the cooperation projects between the north and the south including the tour of Mt. Kumgang at an unpredictable peril. Oh, no! Not the tour of Mt. Kumgang! What the hell is Mt. Kumgang? The GNP is chiefly to blame for his death as it has challenged the development of inter-Korean relations with the "special inspection" and it should, therefore, apologize to the nation for its irrevocable consequences. Again, how much are they out now that this guy’s gone? Jong Mong Hon, who worked so hard to show Mt. Kumgang, the famous mountain of the nation, to the south Korean brothers and sisters is no longer with them to our sorrow. This compels us to suspend the tour of Mt. Kumgang for a certain period including the mourning period with profound grief over his death, we think. I can’t think of a more fitting tribute. The Norks really go all out don’t they? Will Kimmie send an extra big flower basket? There may be painful sacrifices and difficulties on the road of national reconciliation and unity, cooperation and reunification. Nothing, however, can stop our dynamic advance to achieve the reunification of the country and the prosperity common to the nation by the concerted efforts of the nation under the uplifted banner of the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration. This is relevant to this story...how? |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #5 In this context, is it really appropriate to say that Jong Mong Hon left inerasable marks? |
| Posted by: snellenr 2003-8-6 2:55:20 PM |
| #4 Any agency have any oblique airphotos of Mt. Kumgang so we can examine them and see if it would be worth the trip to go there? |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-8-6 2:33:37 PM |
| #3 from Asia Times 2001:Hyundai hopes for better days at Mount Kumgang SEOUL - Hyundai Asan Co said it expects to hold talks with North Korea early next month to try and devise a way to keep float the tourism project at Mount Kumgang. The Hyundai Group subsidiary has proposed talks with the Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, Asan's North Korean partner in the project, in a bid to bring fresh life to the project which is faltering due to lack of tourists and financial troubles. Hyundai said the North Korean committee is hammering out ways to activate the project. At the proposed talks, the two sides are expected to touch on the opening of a cross-border overland route and Pyongyang's designating the mountain area a "special tourist zone" as first agreed upon back in June. Hyundai Group Chairman Chung Mong-hun will reportedly attend the talks. Kim Yoon-kyu, Hyundai Asan president, raised speculation that the two sides will reach an agreement on the details of the special tourist zone, adding approval for the construction of an overland route is unlikely. The special tourist zone designation should pave the way for drawing foreign capital to the mountain resort, Kim added. He also said the project should not be folded even though his company faces financial difficulties because it is a pan-Korean national concern. The two sides were to meet at the scenic east coast resort on Sunday, the third anniversary of the inter-Korean project, but the North notified Hyundai it would not attend because of the failed inter-Korean ministerial talks held from November 9-14. The Mount Kunmgang tours are widely regarded as a symbol of President Kim Dae-Jung's "Sunshine" policy toward the North. The ministerial talks were to renew inter-Korean cooperation including the tours but broke down over disagreements concerning the South's heightened security posture. The North sees the South's security measures as directed against it, while the South insists they are needed to protect its nationals and foreign residents from terrorist attacks linked to the ongoing US-led campaign in Afghanistan. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-8-6 10:41:34 AM |
| #2 There may be painful sacrifices and difficulties on the road of national reconciliation and unity, cooperation and reunification. Translation: Some South Koreans may have trouble adjusting at first to the idea of replacing their economy with Juche. And a few stubborn nutcases may resist submitting to the enlightened rule of our Great Leader. But we'll iron out our differences and one bright day all of Korea will be united and portraits of Kim's great visage will look out over a unified people in all corners of the peninsula. |
| Posted by: Tokyo Taro 2003-8-6 4:08:30 AM |
| #1 "Oh darling, I'm SO disappointed the tour was cancelled, I was so looking forward to climbing Mount Kumgang and touring the grass canneries!" "Tut-tut, Matilda, be a good sport, nothing to do be done about it." "But dearest, whatever are we to do?" "Well, there's always the beaches of Monrovia." "Oh, Henry, do you really mean it? Monrovia! How special!" |
| Posted by: Steve White 2003-8-6 12:31:46 AM |