Panmunjom tours for select Korean nationals may resume in October

South Korean soldiers stand guard in the truce village of Panmunjom inside the demilitarized zone separating South and North Korea on March 03, 2023 in Panmunjom, South Korea. (GettyImages)

Tours to the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom might resume for Korean nationals in October, more than a year after former US soldier Travis King's crossing into North Korea suspended tours there.

According to a source from the state-run National Institute for Unification Education, which operates the tour programs for Korean nationals, it is working with the United Nations Command on preparations for the tour program, which facilitates visits to the heavily armed Demilitarized Zone and the Joint Security Area where the two Koreas' forces stand face-to-face.

"We're trying to restart the tour program before the end of October for select government clients," a source from the institute told The Korea Herald, adding the institute was conducting a demand survey for potential travelers.

Resuming the extraordinary tour for government clients is its priority over restarting general tours where ordinary people can register online for the tours, according to the institute.

All general tour programs -- for both Korean and foreign nationals -- were suspended soon after Travis King, who was a US Army private in July 2023, intentionally broke away from a South Korean civilian tour group in the truce village to cross the inter-Korean border and flee to North Korea. King was originally scheduled to be escorted home after facing disciplinary action in South Korea.

King earlier on Sept. 20 was sentenced to one year of confinement in Fort Bliss, Texas, and discharged from the military. King walked free as he had already served time. He had been in custody since September 2023 when he was released from North Korea and flown back to the US.

Only extraordinary tours under the supervision of the UN Command for select foreign nationals have been in place, while general tours for foreigners have not restarted.

In these extraordinary tours, there are "fewer people in a tour group compared with what used to be around 40 people, and this might cap the tour group of Koreans, too," the institute source also said.

The Unification Ministry in November 2023 announced plans to restart the tour program for some South Korean nationals, but the plan was short-lived after the two Koreas suspended the 2018 inter-Korean military agreements.

By Son Ji-hyoung(consnow@heraldcorp.com)