Update: This rates 1 out of 10 possible points on the OhMyNews Scale, although my gut says the street’s reaction will probably rate somewhere between 3 and 4.]
The woman was shot by a North Korean soldier at the Kumgang tourist zone after crossing into a restricted zone:
The 53-year-old housewife was taking a stroll at a beach near the Mount Geumgang resort when the incident took place, the ministry said.
South Korea will suspend tourism to the resort from Saturday to properly cope with the incident, according to Kim Ho-nyoun, spokesman for the ministry. “We will shelve the program starting tomorrow until a probe into this incident is completed,” Kim told reporters.
The woman identified as Park Wang-ja broke through wire entanglements, crossed into a restricted North Korean zone and approached a North Korean military unit, said Hyundai Asan, the South Korean operator of the program, citing North Korean accounts.
She was shot in the chest and leg, the company said. [Yonhap]
You know, I’m beginning to question whether all of this sunshine and engagement really is changing the character of North Korean society or its regime. Wasn’t this guy watching the New York Philharmonic concert?
North Korea claimed the woman ignored repeated warnings and ran away before the solider opened fire at about 5 a.m., according to the company. It said the North informed the company about the death four hours later.
Well, there you go.
Since its launch in 1998, the tour has been halted three times, including once because of the North’s detention of a South Korean tourist. Park was the first South Korean to be shot dead while taking part in the tour program.
The loss-making Kumgang project has long been subsidized by the South Korean government to allow its operator, Hyundai Asan Corporation, to pay increasingly steep fees to the North Korean regime. There have long been suspicions that the North Koreans, in turn, have diverted some of those funds for military uses. Last October, South Korea said it would cut the subsidies, but it’s not clear that it ever did.
Robert Koehler, who has a long head start on me, notes that South Korea has suspended tours to the North.
A muted reaction on the South Korean street may provide further evidence that there is no hope whatsoever for South Korea to become a meaningful engine of its own reunification. And that’s exactly what I predict.
UPDATE: One Free Korea asks:
You know, I’m beginning to question whether all of this sunshine and engagement really is changing the character of North Korean society or its regime. Wasn’t this guy watching the New York Philharmonic concert?
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Original Posting:
So what are the odds there will be candlelight protests over this?:
The government on Friday suspended tourism to North Korea’s Mount Geumgang after a South Korean tourist at the resort was shot dead by a North Korean soldier earlier in the day.
Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun announced in a news briefing that Seoul will shelve the program starting Saturday until a probe into the incident is completed, adding that the government will take necessary measures based on the result of the inquiry.
He said tourists who are still at Mt. Geumgang will be allowed to finish out their tour of the resort before returning home to South Korea.
Expressing regret over the incident, the official hoped that North Korea will cooperate with the investigation.
The 53-year-old South Korean woman was shot to death by a North Korean soldier at around 4:30 a.m. Friday after crossing into a restricted North Korean military zone.
According to the ministry, she was taking a stroll at a beach near the Mount Geumgang resort when the incident took place. [KBS Global]
Here is a map of the area that the woman was killed at:
It happened very close to the hotel which leads me to believe she crossed some barrier that is supposed to be used to contain the tourists at the resort. It was 4:30 in the morning which means it was dark and she may not have been able to read any warning signs. Even if she knew she wasn’t supposed to cross the barrier it still isn’t any excuse to shoot the woman dead. Why couldn’t the soldiers just walk up to her and detain her. It isn’t like a 53 year old woman is going to be able to out run them.
Robert Koehler is reporting that already the usual suspects are making excuses:
My favorite comment, however, was by an official from the Korean Progressive Alliance — yes, the very same Korean Progressive Alliance which had its office raided in connection with the US beef protests — who said:
Geumgangsan is North Korean territory, and we must adhere well to the standards set by North and South… Concerning the person who died, we cannot help but feel regret, but it’s not desirable for North and South to debate right and wrong over this matter.
After all, she was only an unarmed civilian shot in the back by Stalinists. Not like she died from eating US beef or anything. [Marmot’s Hole]
It will be interesting to see how this plays out especially in comparison to what everyone could imagine what would happen if a US soldier shot a Korean civilian that trespassed on to a US military installation.
It is to early to tell what is going to happen but considering the South Korean public could care less when six of its servicemembers were premeditatedly murdered by North Korea why would they care about what happened to this 53 year old woman?
UPDATE: Yonhap reports that South Koreans are shocked by the incident, but beyond that, lots of hand-wringing about how tragic it was (that being said, it’s still too early to tell how this will play out with the Korean public). My favorite comment, however, was by an official from the Korean Progressive Alliance — yes, the very same Korean Progressive Alliance which had its office raided in connection with the US beef protests — who said:
Geumgangsan is North Korean territory, and we must adhere well to the standards set by North and South… Concerning the person who died, we cannot help but feel regret, but it’s not desirable for North and South to debate right and wrong over this matter.
After all, she was only an unarmed civilian shot in the back by Stalinists. Not like she died from eating US beef or anything.
The Ministry of Unification, meanwhile, said it will suspend tourism operations in Geumgangsan until the North Koreans explain what exactly happened. That being said, the language they used was responsibly measured.
LMB is getting static, too, since he apparently knew about the incident when he addressed the National Assembly today and called for the resumption of full-scale talks between the North and South Korean governments.
ORIGINAL POST: Yonhap is reporting that a 53-year-old South Korean tourist was shot dead by North Korean soldiers in the Kumgangsan Mountains tourism zone.
According to North Korean authorities and Hyundai Asan, the tourist — identified by her family name of Park — was shot in the chest and leg after she entered a North Korean military zone during an early morning walk near Haegeumgang Beach.
The North said Park had crossed over wire entanglements and ignored several orders to stop issued by a soldier on guard. When she tried to flee, the soldier first fired a warning shot, and then shot her dead.
Park was shot at 4:30am, died at 5:00, but North Korea waited until 9:20 to tell inform Hyundai Asan of what happened. The body was shipped back to the South in the afternoon and is now in storage at Sokcho Hospital.
A Hyundai Asan official said he understood Park had met with tragedy after she unwittingly entered a prohibited military zone, and that they were talking with the North about how to handle the incident.
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