An investigation of the relationship between South Korean domestic public opinion, tourism development in North Korea and a role for tourism in promoting peace on the Korean peninsula

This study investigates aspects of the interaction between domestic opinion in South Korea and support for the continuation of the Mt. Gumgang tourism development in North Korea as a vehicle for promoting peace on the Korean peninsula. The study finds that residents’ perceptions of international tourism development can influence national and international policy. Second, the study provides insights into the political impacts of tourism development being conducted in a country that is widely regarded as hostile by potential visitors, but which shares many ethnic and cultural links with its major origin market. Third, the study finds that there is a role for tourism in developing peaceful relations between hostile nations. An important consideration arising from this research is that the use of tourism for political purposes introduces non-market considerations that have the potential to become more important than pleasure motives in the weighting of consumer's decision sets on destination selection. An adaptation of a model for the study of international relations based on games theory is used to demonstrate these relationships.