North and South Korea have made a series of important concessions pointing towards a new climate of optimism in ending long-running hostilities between both sides.

In moves underpinning what many observers view as the first signs of a ‘new mood’ in relations, South Korea has removed propaganda loudspeakers along the inter-Korean border tomorrow (Tuesday 1 May), according to the state-run Korean Broadcasting System (KBS).

Pyeongyang is also set to rewind its time zone by 30 minutes to align with South Korea, beginning 5 May.

These further steps to reconcile the fractious relationship between the two Korean sides follow a historic summit meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un that took place in the border town of Panmunjom on Friday (27 April)

TOURISM OPTIMISM

For the first time there are sincere hopes that the meeting, which took place across the Korea Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), could lead to a ‘complete denuclearisation’ of the borders, paving the way to a potential reunification between both countries.

The summit centred on plans to pursue a peace treaty dubbed the ‘Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula’, to halt the decades-long war between both sides.

Topics of discussion at the summit included the aforementioned denuclearisation and de-escalating military tensions. The summit ended with an embrace between both leaders.

It is worth noting at this stage that rhetoric seems to focus on a denuclearisation of the peninsular and not North Korea’s nuclear activities or reducing its nuclear arsenal, tests of which have increased in intensity over the last few months.

Any genuine steps towards unification hinges firmly on the signing of the peace treaty expected to take place later this year, but the initial gestures are at least encouraging to spectators.

This is not least the case for the tourism and travel retail sector, which would surely stand to benefit from improvements in inter-Korean relations.

“It is obviously a great opportunity to improve the relationship between South and North Korea and will have tremendous effects on every aspect of this country including tourism,” a Korean industry source told TRBusiness.

“We hope tangible changes that postively affect tourism relations will take place. However, we need to see how the situation develops.”

Another source added: “Personally, all these positive expectations and optimism is too early.

“Several news sources are talking about the denuclearisation of North Korea, but we still do not know the practical measures of this. There is a positive atmosphere here among many people including the key players in the TR industry.

“In general, South Korean economic players and those in the tourism industry are expecting something better than the past.

“North and South Korea starting conversations is definitely a good signal for improved fortunes as far as the economy and tourism is concerned. We must be cautious in terms of what is going to happen.”

Kim Jong-un is expected to meet with US President Donald J. Trump in the next few weeks.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Si is also expected to visit North Korea later this week.

Trump made a trip to visit his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in March, with talks on the Korea situation forming part of the diplomatic dialogue.

CHINA RETURNS?

In a separate but timely resurgence, visitor numbers to South Korea grew by 11.8% to 403,413 in March year-on year, according to the Korea Tourism Organization.

The decline in visitors, which at certain periods during 2017 reached as much -70%, has improved since the turn of the year.

However, the latest KTO results reveals the first return to growth in Chinese tourism to South Korea.

“We see [the figures] as exaggerated,” one Korean industry source told TRBusiness. “The number [403,413] includes people who do not come here to travel.”

Another source was equally sceptical: “The numbers tell their own story, but we cannot say the [Chinese] are officially back.

“We have to observe the flight schedule from China to South Korea. We have to see this before we can confirm the return of Chinese travellers.

“There are seasonal issues which also need to be considered. The date of Chinese New Year changes each year, for example. This must be considered.”

Moon Jae-in’s meeting with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in November affirmed a ‘normalisation’ in relations between both countries that hopes to herald changes over the current positioning of the US-supplied THAAD missile defence system.

All photos courtesy of the 2018 Inter-Korean Summit Press Corps