Subway station exhibits art of Kumgangsan
by Coral Russell
Chart Reporter

Dr. Cliff Toliver (left) speaks with Mr. Cho, director of the Kumgangsan Love Organization, at the subway exhibit

On our way to the candlelight vigil memorial, service we happened upon an exhibit in the middle of an underground subway station. We stopped and were amazed to find the exhibit was about Kumgangsan. There were photographs and paintings by famous artists showing off this beautiful natural area in North Korea and signs colored by school children who dreamed of visiting this place someday. The Kumgangsan Love Organization was promoting exchanges between the two Koreas through this resort. Mr. Cho, is the director, and it was surreal interviewing him there in the subway while row after row of riot police marched past us on their way to the Vigil.

The center for a great deal of inter-Korean activity, of interaction between the peoples of North and South Korea, lies at the end of a 39.4 kilometer road that runs north along the Korean East Coast from the Demilitarized Zone border to the scenic mountain resort of Kumgangsan, or Diamond Mountain. This "tourist spot," the only site at which foreigners can now visit North Korea, was officially opened on Feb. 21. The route takes 80 minutes by bus from the customs, immigration and quarantine office south of the DMZ to a North Korean CIQ just north of the DMZ. The program to this tourist spot was started in 1998, and about 520,000 South Koreans have visited Kumgangsan.

Professor Lee Jang-hie of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies has expressed an optimistic view about the breaking down of the border.

"The opening of this road symbolizes a revival of various networks connecting the Korean Peninsula. I hope it will work as a turning point for bilateral reconciliation though the two Koreas have many obstacles to overcome before achieving true peace." (The Korea Herald, Seo Hyun-jin, Feb. 13)

Cho spoke eagerly and optimistically: A railroad not used for half a century will be rebuilt and connect the two Koreas again. When finished, 2,000 people a day will cross over to the North. Highway construction to Kaesong, a village north of the DMZ, will be restarted this month. Air and ship traffic, all stopped by the North, will be reestablished by the South. North Korea has agreed through meetings to restart transport links.

Our organization's purpose is to encourage regular citizens to press for reestablishment of trips to Kumgangsan with the motto "unification through education." Unification is inevitable. We Koreans have one language, are of the same race, share the same thinking, same acting and same face.

Unification will occur definitely in my lifetime. We want all people, the general public in North and South Korea, to have the opportunity to meet each other — not politicians and not soldiers, but regular people. We plan to hold simultaneous conventions in North and South Korea. Peace would be lost if there was no reunification. Korea is an important country surrounded by big countries. Korea needs to provide stability in the region.

We have staged an exhibition of photos and paintings of Kumgangsan so that all people can have access to a beauty that belongs to all — not just to scholars and politicians. The Hyundai Corporation, artists, photographers, educators and volunteers helped to stage the exhibition. This movement does not mean to support Hyundai Corporation, the government or anything but peace and unity.