North Korea set to open international all-inclusive resort in abandoned £1bn ghost town where tourist was murdered
NORTH Korea has revealed it is to spend a fortune redeveloping a £1bn resort which was closed down after a tourist was shot dead by troops.
Kim Jong-un's cronies have vowed to resurrect the Mount Kumgang complex - a year after he ordered the destruction of South Korean-built hotels on the site.
The eerie "ghost town" is the closest North Korean settlement to its heavily-fortified border with its old enemy in the South.
The resort - once a prominent symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation - was built by Hyundai on one of the peninsula's most scenic mountains.
It became an unlikely tourist hotspot for South Koreans with more than two million flocking there until 2008 to enjoy luxury hotels, a golf course and a spa.
But last year Kim branded the development an eyesore and described facilities there as "shabby" and built like ";makeshift tents" in a disaster zone.
North Korea eventually postponed the demolition plans for the site over concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.
And today the official Korean Central News Agency reported Kim Tok-hun, the North's premier, stressed "the need to build the tourist area our own way" on the site.
He added Pyongyang now wants to turn it into a "cultural resort envied by the whole world", during his visit to the area.
Tok-hun also reportedly called for pushing ahead to turn the area into a "modern and all-inclusive international tourist" resort.
The Mount Kumgang complex was once one of the two biggest inter-Korean projects.
But the murder of a female South Korean tourist in a bloody shooting saw tours to the outpost stopped by worried officials in Seoul.
North Korea later claimed Park Wang-na had strayed into a military zone after ignoring warning shots from its guards.
The reclusive North has long wanted to resume the lucrative visits, but they would violate international sanctions imposed on Pyongyang over its nuclear and ballistic weapons programmes.
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"The Kim regime will struggle to find the resources to redevelop Mt. Kumgang and needs outside investment, but is signalling it will downgrade South Korean partners and stakeholders," said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.
"By holding Seoul's hopes for engagement at risk, Kim is pressuring the Moon administration to find ways of resuming financial benefits for the North."