N. Korean leader on extended provincial tour: report

SEOUL, Aug 13 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has inspected a theater
in an east coast town, the North's state media reported Thursday, raising
speculation that chances are becoming slim that he will meet with the visiting
head of South Korea's Hyundai Group in Pyongyang.

The North's Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim inspected a recently
renovated open-air theater in Wonsan, Kangwon Province. The report did not say
when Kim made the visit.
The KCNA reported Wednesday that Kim inspected a naval university in the
country's northern city of Hamhung, and also reported later in the day that he
watched a play with soldiers in the same city.
While none of the three reports specified the timing of Kim's trip outside
Pyongyang, observers speculated they were made during Hyundai Group Chairwoman
Hyun Jung-eun's visit to the North.
Hyun entered the North on Monday at the invitation of North Korea. She was
expected to negotiate the release of a Hyundai employee, a technician named Yu
Seong-jin, who had been detained incommunicado since late March on accusations of
criticizing the North's political system and trying to persuade a local woman to
defect.
Yu was released late Thursday, but Hyun's whereabouts were still unknown. She was
reported to be in Pyongyang as of Wednesday afternoon.
The latest report on Kim came as all eyes were on the possible meeting between
Hyun and the North Korean leader. The two met in 2005 and 2007 to reach accords
on joint tourism ventures.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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