North Korea to halt tours to historic city

updated 9:21 p.m. ET Nov. 24, 2008

KAESONG, North Korea - For months, tours of this historic city — famed for its Buddhist temples, royal tombs and ancient relics — have given South Koreans a glimpse of life in the hidden communist North.

But North Korea officials announced Monday that these visits were being suspended starting Dec. 1 because of tensions with Seoul — not that they were that truly welcoming anyway: On a weekend visit, cell phones, laptops and cameras with telephoto lenses were locked away even before the tour bus left South Korean territory.

Travelers were warned not to speak to ordinary North Koreans, not to criticize the government or to ask about the health of Kim Jong Il. And no souvenirs depicting the Dear Leader, a South Korean guide warned.

"Don't bring back red items or any of that North Korean propaganda — I know foreigners love to buy propaganda," she said.

'Nice to meet you'
The moment the bus passed from South to North on Saturday, South Korean tourists broke out in applause. At immigration, North Korea's de facto theme song for reconciliation — "Nice to Meet You" — played over and over on a loudspeaker as travelers endured yet another security check.

As the bus ambled into Kaesong with two new North Korean guides aboard, soldiers stood guard at intervals along the route, a lone figure in a brown field or on an empty dirt road, red flag at the ready to wave at an errant tourist snapping a photo from the bus window with a small camera.

If the flag had been raised, the entire convoy would have stopped and the illicit photo ordered deleted from the camera.

For many on board, it was their first trip to reclusive North Korea, a country that is run with absolute authority by the autocratic Kim.

And for many, it was their first meeting with North Koreans. The guide, a Kaesong native, was witty and warm as he told tourists about the history of the capital known as Songdo, "the City of Pine Trees," at one point serenading them with Korea's most famous folk song, "Arirang" and teasing them with jokes — a scene perhaps unthinkable a decade ago.

He also displayed a keen interest in President-elect Barack Obama, inquiring about the Democrat's stance on U.S.-North Korea relations.

"I see no reason why the two countries should be so far apart if the U.S. policy changes," he said. "It would be better if the two countries were friendly in the future."

Tours immensely popular
Though restrictive, the tours have been immensely popular among South Koreans since they began a year ago, with more than 110,000 tourists piling onto buses for the daylong visit to a city just 40 miles from Seoul but inaccessible for nearly 60 years.

North Korea's announcement Monday that the tours will be suspended has heightened fears that 10 years of progress in improving ties between the wartime rivals may be in danger of unraveling.

Another joint project, tours to Diamond Mountain on North Korea's east coast, have been suspended since July following the shooting death of a South Korean tourist. And the communist country, in detailing plans to restrict cross-border traffic next week amid deteriorating ties with Seoul's conservative government, said it would also suspend inter-Korean rail lines.

Kaesong, Korea's cultural and religious centerpiece before power shifted to Seoul in the 14th century, has a rich heritage and military history. During the three-year Korean War, control of Kaesong — located in the heart of the peninsula — was traded back and forth as the front shifted. When fighting stopped in 1953, Kaesong fell just north of the border.

Among those born in the north who longed to return home was the late founder of the conglomerate Hyundai Asan Corp. In 1998, Chung Ju-yung ceremoniously crossed the border with hundreds of cattle — repayment, he said, for stealing money from selling the family cow to pay his way to Seoul so many decades earlier.

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