|
SEOUL, Aug 9, 2008 (AFP) - North Korea said it would start expelling South Korean personnel from a mountain resort in the communist state on Sunday amid growing tensions over the shooting of a Seoul tourist.
"The measure of expelling personnel of the South side unnecessary in the tourist area of Mt. Kumgang shall take effect from August 10," a spokesman of the military unit in the Kumgang area said in a statement carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency.
The move would include officials from the state-run Korea Tourism Organisation and government officials in charge of a newly-built facility for reunions of separated families, it said.
The South suspended tourist trips to Kumgang immediately after the July 11 shooting of a housewife who strayed into a restricted military area. It says such visits will not resume until it has firm safety guarantees.
The North blames the South for the incident. On Sunday its military again flatly rejected Seoul's call for a joint on-site probe and denounced the South for "misleading public opinion at home and abroad" over the shooting.
| 
