Hyundai worker's detention caused by remarks about N.K. leader: family

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SEOUL, Aug. 14 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean worker who was detained in North Korea
for months had talked about the highly taboo subject of the country's leader, Kim
Jong-il, and Kim's family to locals, the worker's brother said Friday.

Little is known about the circumstances leading to the detention of Yu Seong-jin,
a Hyundai Asan Corp. technician who was working at a joint park in the North's
border town of Kaesong in late March. North Korea told the South that Yu had
criticized its political system and tried to convince a local woman to defect to
the South.
Yu returned home and was reunited with his family Thursday.
"Talking about Kim Jong-il is forbidden in North Korea, but my brother said he
had talked about Kim Jong-il, his sister and Kim Jong-un," his elder brother, Yu
Seong-gwon, said over the telephone, referring to the leader's only sister, Kim
Kyong-hui, and his third and youngest son, Jong-un, who is believed to have been
tapped to succeed him.
Talking about Kim's private life is strictly forbidden in North Korea, which is
ruled with his iron fist. Most defectors say information about the leader's wives
and sons were beyond their reach while living in the North.
Yu also criticized the country's political regime to North Korean workers, the
brother said.
The joint park, developed by Hyundai Asan, hosts more than 100 South Korean firms
that employ about 40,000 North Korean workers. They produce mostly clothing,
kitchenware, electronic equipment and other labor-intensive goods.
Sources had said Yu had been in charge of overseeing North Korean workers'
lodging facilities at the industrial park.
North Korea released Yu days after Hyun Jung-eun, chairwoman of Hyundai Asan's
parent, Hyundai Group, traveled to Pyongyang to press for his case. Days earlier,
North Korea pardoned two detained American journalists during a visit by former
U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Yu was placed in isolation at an inn inside the joint park, the brother said.
"He said he remained alone, having no contact with other persons," the elder Yu
said. "He said he had endured the time by praying."
Throughout his captivity, however, North Korea "treated and fed him well," he said.
Yu was not informed of his release until the last minute. At around 3 p.m.
Thursday, a North Korean official came without notice and ordered him to follow,
the brother said. He crossed the military demarcation line into South Korea at
around 8:30 p.m.
Before handing him over to Hyundai just north of the border, a North Korean
official read the results of an investigation into the charges against him, which
have not yet been made public.
Yu is currently receiving medical attention at a hospital in southern Seoul.
Officials say he is generally in good health. Unification Minister Hyun In-taek
paid a visit to Yu Friday morning to wish him well.
His aged and ailing parents, unable to travel far, watched their son's return on
television in their southern rural home.
Yu's release, a rare fence-mending gesture from North Korea, removes a major
roadblock in frayed inter-Korean relations.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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