Hyundai chief in Pyongyang seeking release of detained employee

By Kim Hyun

SEOUL, Aug. 11 (Yonhap) -- The chairwoman of Hyundai Group was in Pyongyang for a second day seeking the release of a detained employee, as preparations for a possible breakthrough were brisk at a border office on Tuesday.

Hyun Jung-eun drove across the inter-Korean land border for a three-day visit to
Pyongyang on Monday, following former U.S. President Bill Clinton's trip there to
win the release of two American journalists last week. Hyun's visit raised hopes
that the Korean employee, only identified by his family name Yu, would be
released after a detention of nearly four and a half months.
Seoul officials remained cautious over media reports of progress on the issue.
"There is nothing special that is underway at this moment," Unification Ministry
spokesman Chun Hae-sung said during a briefing. Asked about reports suggesting
Yu's release on Tuesday, he said, "So far until now, I have nothing to share with
you about that."
Yu was detained in late March at a joint park in the North's border town of
Kaesong on accusations of criticizing the North's political system and trying to
persuade a local woman to defect to the South. The 44-year-old is an employee of
Hyundai Asan Corp., the North Korea business unit of Hyundai Group and the major
developer of the joint park.
In contrast to the American reporters, who were detained for illegal entry in
mid-March, North Korea has not allowed Yu to make any phone calls to family or
access to Seoul officials, only saying an investigation was underway.
Still, at the western Inter-Korean Transit Office in the South's border town of
Paju, one of the two gateways to North Korea, officials remained on stand-by and
media facilities were set up in preparation to welcome Yu.
"The chance that he will return today are fifty-fifty," Yu Jin-yeong, an official
at the border office, speculated.
The chief of Hyundai Asan, Cho Kun-shik, canceled his trip to North Korea earlier
in the day, but whether the decision was related to the negotiations on the
detained employee was uncertain.
The two high-profile trips by Clinton and the Hyundai chief have spurred hopes
for progress in political relations in the region. Tensions rose after North
Korea's rocket and nuclear tests earlier this year, and the U.N. Security Council
adopted resolutions to stem the cash flow used to fund the North's weapons
program. Pyongyang withdrew from regional denuclearization talks in protest.
Experts say North Korea's key concern is improving relations with the U.S., and
to that end it is necessary to mend ties with Seoul.
North Korea gave a hearty welcome to the Hyundai Group chairwoman, opening the
land border for her drive to Pyongyang and sending a high-level official, Ri
Jong-hyok, to receive her. Speculation is high that Hyun may be granted a meeting
with the North Korean leader and get the worker released as early as Tuesday. She
was granted a meeting with Kim during visits in 2005 and 2007.
Hyundai is deeply involved in inter-Korean relations, with several North Korea
ventures initiated by its late founder Chung Ju-yung, born in North Korea. But
the ventures hit a snag as political ties unraveled after President Lee Myung-bak
took office last year with a tougher stance on North Korea's nuclear program and
on economic aid.
The South Korean government suspended Hyundai's major tourism program to North
Korea's Mount Kumgang in July last year after a female tourist was shot dead by a
North Korean solider there.
North Korea closed another Hyundai tour program to the historic border town of
Kaesong in December as part of retaliatory steps against the South's hard-line
posture.