South Korea's Hyundai Asan Corp will start land tours on Feb. 21 to North Korea, the first time tourists will cross one of the world's most hostile borders.
The one-hour bus trip will give tourists a glimpse into the demilitarized zone, a 4km wide stretch of land that's become a nature preserve, where few people have ventured in the five decades since the end of the Korean War.
Hyundai is hoping the appeal of the new route and cheaper fee -- about half of what the company now charges for a high-speed ferry ride to the same location -- will help revive a five-year-old North Korean venture that's never made a profit.
"We're trying to add more items to our packages to offer customers value for money," Asan spokeswoman Hong Hyun-joo said.
A 40km bus ride for a three-day visit to North Korea's Mount Geumgang, or Diamond Mountain, on the east coast will cost 350,000 won (US$293) and a two-day visit 230,000 won, it said in a statement. The 113km ferry ride for a three-day tour costs 540,000 won.
Recapturing the interests of tourists is crucial for Hyundai, which agreed to pay North Korea US$942 million by 2005 for the right to develop the region for tourism and industrial use. Asan had only paid two-fifths of the total at the end of last year.
Hyundai began the tourism venture in November 1998 with ferry and cruise ship rides. It scrapped the cruise ship portion after about three years as the number of tourists dwindled. The South Korean government had to intervene in 2001 to bail out the business.
Hyundai will hold a test-run of the land-route tour on Feb.
14 involving key members from the company, government and South Korean media. On Feb. 5, Hyundai Group Chairman Chung Mong-hun and about 100 other company and government officials went on an inspection tour of the road through the demilitarized zone.
North Korea has become an embarrassment for South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, who won the Nobel peace prize in 2000 for his policy of rapprochement with the North, and for the Hyundai companies, which led South Korean business investments in the communist country.
Kim is accused by South Korea's opposition Grand National Party of helping Hyundai Merchant Marine Co and other affiliates send funds to North Korea, which led to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's agreement to the landmark summit that was held in Pyongyang in June 2000.
Hyundai Merchant Marine, Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co and Hynix Semiconductor Inc, then called Hyundai Electronics Industries Ltd, sent a combined US$500 million to North Korea, Internet news provider OhmyNews said, citing unidentified government officials.
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