S.Korean ruling party's prez candidate vows to resume tourism to North

Seoul, Jan 16 (IANS) Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of South Korea's ruling Democratic Party, on Sunday said he will resume tourism to North Korea's Mount Kumgang as soon as possible if he's elected in the March 9 polls.

He announced the pledge during a visit to the border county of Goseong, 466 km northeast of Seoul, referring to a program that was suspended in 2008 following the death of a South Korean tourist at the mountain by a North Korean guard, reports Yonhap News Agency.

"I will reopen the doors of tourism to Mount Kumgang as soon as possible," Lee said at an observatory overlooking the mountain range.

He also pledged to establish a special international tourism zone straddling the border and push for an ecotourism program inside the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas.

Lee also pledged to establish a special international tourism zone straddling the border and push for an ecotourism program inside the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas.

"Starting with exchanges in nonpolitical areas, such as tourism and sports, I will pursue inter-Korean coexistence through practical North Korea policies that benefit both the South and the North," he said.