Advertisement

A N. Korea Trip Down Selective Memory Lane

Share
Times Staff Writers

The North Koreans here seemed determined to show their posh cousins from the other side of the demilitarized zone that they weren’t the poor relations.

As the first South Korean tour buses rolled into town, crimson geraniums perched cheerfully on the balconies of whitewashed apartment buildings. A few bicyclists plied the freshly swept streets, which were clear of the wooden handcarts ubiquitous in North Korea. To greet the visitors, women turned out in shimmering nylon traditional and Western-style dresses in day-glo shades of pink and azure and clunky black high-heeled shoes.

All the while, Kaesong’s residents took pains to seem blase, as though a convoy of 15 tour buses from South Korea drove down the middle of the street every day. Only one person returned the tourists’ waves and just a few children peeped out of apartment windows from behind lace curtains.

Advertisement

In fact, Friday’s visit was something of a breakthrough in relations between the estranged Koreas. The pilot tour, which brought 500 tourists in for the day, has the potential to develop into the largest mass tourism project in isolated North Korea.

Although more than a million tourists have visited Mt. Kumgang on North Korea’s east coast since it was opened to foreigners in 1998, the trip to the remote enclave takes several days and offers visitors only fleeting glimpses of daily life in the country. In contrast, Kaesong is a historic city of 400,000 only 40 miles from Seoul, making it easily accessible for day-trippers coming across the demilitarized zone.

“The symbolic meaning of today’s tour lies in the fact that North Korea has opened up one of its residential areas to outsiders, and this in itself shows a definite change,” said Nam Sung Wook, a South Korean academic who is advising Seoul on the tourism project. “The country is inviting tourists to an old and humble area where its own citizens are conducting their day life and walking about.”

Of course, openness is relative when it comes to North Korea. Friday’s trip, organized by South Korea’s Hyundai Asan Co., was open only to South Koreans. Applications by foreigners were rejected by North Korean authorities. Cellphones had to be surrendered before crossing the border.

The tourists were allowed off the buses only at designated stops -- an ancient stone bridge, a museum, a waterfall. When they were driven through the center of town, they were not permitted to take pictures out the bus windows. There were no spontaneous encounters with ordinary North Koreans -- only officials, government guides and vendors.

About half of the visitors on the maiden trip were elderly people born in Kaesong who had fled south before the border slammed shut at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. Using walking sticks to navigate a few old haunts and digital cameras to record how times had changed, they marveled at the sites from their youth and exchanged vivid recollections of the past.

Advertisement

“This was our playground!” exclaimed Kong Yong Chung, 74, as he strolled around a park near a 13th century stone bridge.

“I don’t have the words to describe a day like this that can come if you live long enough,” said Son Chung Shik, 87, who was enthusiastically buying Kaesong’s specialty wines and books on North Korea at every stop.

The group also included journalists, businesspeople and others.

The North Koreans the Southerners encountered were politely welcoming and professed love for their estranged countrymen.

“Of course, it’s good to see tourists from the South,” said an 18-year-old North Korean waitress, Kim Hyang Mi. “I yearn for the time to come when both the North and South will be able to live together and unify.”

In recent months, there has been a rush of cooperative projects between North and South Korea, from a joint ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II to various collaborations in agriculture, energy and culture.

The impoverished North Koreans also have been pushing forward with tourism ventures, apparently in hopes of bringing in foreign currency. For each tourist visiting Kaesong, the North Korean government is to receive $150. The tourists pay $200 each.

Advertisement

Not surprisingly, there were plenty of shopping opportunities for Friday’s visitors, who were offered mementos such as snake wine -- purportedly complete with reptile -- and books of the sayings of Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s leader.

At the moment, Hyundai is planning only occasional day trips to Kaesong. But the company wants to eventually build hotels and perhaps even a golf course to turn the city into a major tourist destination. In addition, the company has developed an industrial park on the outskirts of the city so South Korean companies can use cheap North Korean labor.

From 918 to 1392, Kaesong was the capital of the kingdom of Koryo. Some say it was largely spared from bombing during the Korean War on orders of South Korean President Syngman Rhee, a native of the city.

“This city in its day had the status of a city like Byzantium. It was a center of civilization. Today it is an incredible treasure house for archeology,” said Tony Michell, a British business consultant based in Seoul who is leading a preservation effort for Kaesong.

But Kaesong’s potential for tourism will probably depend on the extent to which North Korea can overcome its distrust of outsiders.

Many of the elderly Kaesong natives on Friday’s trip were disappointed that they couldn’t move freely to visit their old neighborhoods or family graves.

Advertisement

“It would be great if ordinary people could freely travel around here,” said an ebullient South Korean tourist, 68-year-old Park Seong Ho, who had been regaling a North Korean guard with his childhood recollections of Kaesong. “When do you think that might happen?”

The guard, a smiling young man with permed hair, rocked back and forth as though searching for an answer, but just continued to grin silently.

Park reported from Kaesong and Demick from Seoul.

Advertisement