All eyes on Hyundai chief possibly meeting with N.K. leader

By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Hyundai Group chairwoman was in
Pyongyang for a third day to win the release of a detained employee, drawing keen
attention to a possible meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il later
Wednesday.

The rare trip by Hyun Jung-eun has spurred expectations of progress in stalled
inter-Korean relations, reminiscent of former U.S. President Bill Clinton's
Pyongyang visit last week that brought two detained American journalists home in
a positive signal for frayed North Korea-U.S. ties.
An employee of Hyundai Asan Corp., the group's North Korea business unit, has
been detained in the North since late March on accusations of criticizing the
North's political system and trying to persuade a local woman to defect. The
44-year-old man, only identified by his family name Yu, was working at a joint
industrial park in the North's border town of Kaesong.
While little information was available about her activity in the North, her
company said Hyun's entourage called from Pyongyang Tuesday night to extend her
trip for one day. The reason for the extension was not immediately known, but it
was largely believed she was waiting for a meeting with the North Korean leader.
"The government plans to approve" Hyundai's request to extend the trip until
Thursday, Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said in a briefing.
Kim appeared to have been out of town as the official Korean Central News Agency
reported on his inspection of a northern naval academy in an early morning
dispatch Wednesday. All eyes were on whether Kim would meet with Hyun later in
the day and what the two would discuss.
The ministry spokesman said he could not confirm whether Kim's trip was made
yesterday or if Kim had returned to Pyongyang.
Hyun's father-in-law and Hyundai's late founder Chung Ju-yung flew into an
eastern North Korean naval base to meet with Kim during a visit to Pyongyang in
2000.
"The location makes no difference. It's only because of (the North Korean
leader's) schedule," said Kim Young-soo, a Hyundai Asan spokesman.
In a positive sign, North Korea gave a hearty welcome to the Hyundai chief,
opening the land border for her drive to Pyongyang and sending a high-level
official, Ri Jong-hyok, to receive her.
Sources in Seoul said Hyun appeared to be staying at the Paekhwawon State Guest
House, North Korea's highest-level guest house reserved for foreign heads of
state and top dignitaries, judging from the background of a photograph of her
released by state media on Monday. Clinton stayed at the same guest house and
dined there with the North Korean leader.
Hyun previously stayed there during visits in 2005 and 2007, when she was granted
a meeting with the leader. In all those meetings, she was accompanied by her
daughter and heir-apparent, Chung Ji-yi, who is now also in Pyongyang.
The 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.
Hyundai is deeply entwined 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
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.
Hyun took over as the group chief after her husband, Chung Mong-hun, took his own
life in 2003 amid mounting deficits from North Korean ventures and an
investigation into allegations of a secret payment to North Korea.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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