Mount Kumgan, whose name in Korean means “Diamond”, has become a cult place for the peoples of North and South Korea. Rare moments of reconciliation between citizens of neighboring countries who are still at war have officially taken place here.
South Korean border guards reported to Seoul that they had noticed activity “similar to dismantling” at several sites on Mount Kumgang.
A few months earlier, there were unconfirmed reports that the buildings at the resort had already been demolished.
Rest house «Onjongak», located at the foot of Mount Kumgan, — this is the place where the widely publicized reunions of separated families from the South and North were previously held.
Complementing the picture is the information that a few days ago the Hyundai Asan office in Kumgang was allegedly destroyed. A South Korean company was in charge of managing the tourist area.
The world's first floating hotel was built in Australia and ended up in Kumgang.
Another luxury resort, Haegumgang, located on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, was moved to Kumgang and opened to tourists in 2000. In April, North Korea began demolishing this iconic hotel.
The Gumgang Resort is located about 30 minutes north of the Korean Demilitarized Zone and was jointly operated by the two Koreas.
It stopped accepting tourists in 2008 after a North Korean soldier shot and killed a South Korean woman who had wandered outside the Mount Kumgang tourist area.
However, separated families continued to meet there until 2018.
Since then this area has fallen into disrepair. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who visited Kumgang in 2019, called it “wretched” and “backward.”
North Korea is reportedly planning to replace all structures on Mount Kumgang with new ones. According to politicians, this signals that the government of Kim Jong-un plans to manage and control the resort area on its own without any help from its southern neighbor.