Seoul - Over a thousand South Koreans will set sail today on the first commercial cruise to the North since the peninsula was partitioned 50 years ago.
Although the trip is a private initiative by South Korea's richest man, Chung Ju-yung, the octagenarian founder of the Hyundai business conglomerate, it is seen as a step towards closer business ties and, possibly, reunification between Seoul and Pyongyang, two capitals that are technically still at war.
The voyage will launch the first tourist service to run into North Korean territory. Critics, however, have raised concerns that the North may be exploiting the venture to raise funds for a nuclear missile programme.