SEOUL (AFP) ? North Korea has rejected a South Korean offer of fresh talks to settle a festering dispute about a joint tourism resort in the communist country, a Seoul official said Wednesday.
Since late June the North has twice held talks with South Korean officials and businessmen about the fate of Seoul-owned hotels, restaurants and other properties at scenic Mount Kumgang.
After no progress was made, the South's unification ministry proposed fresh government-level talks this week. The North replied Tuesday it would consider such talks only when South Korean business delegates are present.
The North also warned that South Korean firms would have their assets "disposed of" unless they send a reply by Friday.
"To our regret, North Korea has virtually rejected our proposal," ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-Joo told reporters.
She said the South's proposal was aimed at solving the dispute through sincere dialogue between authorities, because previous talks involving business people produced no agreement.
"We didn't want to see talks faltering again because of repeated demands from the North," she said, adding the ministry's proposal reflected the view of companies doing business in the resort.
Mount Kumgang, developed by the South's Hyundai Asan company, opened in 1998 as a symbol of reconciliation and once earned the impoverished North tens of millions of dollars a year.
The South suspended tours by its people after a North Korean soldier shot dead a Seoul tourist who had strayed into a restricted military zone there in July 2008.
It has said it will not resume the tours until the North allows an on-site investigation into the shooting and gives firm safety guarantees.
In protest at the refusal to restart the tours, the North later deprived Hyundai Asan of its monopoly over trips to the resort, where the company has invested millions of dollars.
Last year North Korea seized or sealed off several South Korean properties and last month it warned it would dispose of them.
Seoul has urged Pyongyang to respect all agreements with private businesses and to protect the ownership rights of South Korean firms.
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