"We need foreign money to develop it as an international tourist attraction,'' says Hyundai Asan Corp president Kim Yoon-kyu.
The project will include a hotel, spa, port, golf course, ski hill and other entertainment facilities in a 60km by 40km area around Mt. Kumkang.
Foreigners first visited Kumgang in October. "We target 50,000 foreign visitors to Mt. Kumgang for 2000 and 150,000 foreigners annually in the long term.'' says a manager of Hyundai Merchant and Maritime, the firm that runs the cruise.
Tourists will soon be able to sleep ashore, as a spa is nearly ready to open, and the existing Kumgang Inn will re-open after renovations before June 2000. The entire project will be completed in 2004.
Kim is convinced that there will be little problem in luring some $300 or $400 million in foreign capital investment into the project. It is still losing money, he says, but will soon become profitable.
Since mid-November when Hyundai launched cruises to Kumkang 140,000 people visited, paying an average ticket price of 800,000 won (US$678).
During this period, Hyundai earned 112 billion won but paid some 128 billion won (US$190 million) to North Korea. Hyundai has promised $942 million to North Korea in return for a monopoly on Kumkang until 2005.
"We will break even when 500,000 people visit Mt Kumgang, which is feasible within the next two years," says Hyundai's top executive in charge of the project.
Hyundai has completed first-phase construction of a spa, restaurant, quay, and performance hall at Mt Kumgang. Next built will be a golf course, ski-hill and condominiums.