[North Korea] Kŭmgangsan

The Kumgangsan Tourist Region is a uncommon authoritative locale of North Korea. It was established in 2002 to handle South Korean tourist traffic to Kumgangsan (Diamond Mountain). Since 1998, South Korean and foreign tourists have been allowed to visit Kumgangsan, traveling from the start by journey send, but more just by transport on a recently manufactured way through the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

In 2002, the area around the mountain was separated from Kangwon-do and organized as a separately administered Tourist Region, covering 204.6 square miles (530 km2).Since 1998 over one million South Koreans have visited the resort. In July 2008, Park Wang-ja, a 53 year old South Korean tourist, was shot twice and killed when she entered a military area, according to the North Korean government.

The South Korean request for a joint inquiry was denied. Forensic tests done on Wang-ja suggest that she was standing still or walking slowly when shot. This contradicted the North Korean claim that she was running and did not heed warnings. Quickly when the shooting, the South Korean legislature briefly suspended tours to the resort. In August 2008 the North Koreans announced that they would expel "unnecessary" South Korean workers from the resort.Before the closing of access after the 2008 shooting, a few Americans were also allowed to visit, by arranging 2½-day tours through a South Korean tourism agency.