Hyundai chief passes 4th day in N. Korea without meeting Kim

By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Aug. 14 (Yonhap) -- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il did not meet with the
visiting chairwoman of South Korea's Hyundai Group on Friday, even after she
extended her stay for the third time, a Seoul official said.

At North Korea's invitation, Hyun Jung-eun traveled to Pyongyang Monday on a
mission to win the release of an employee who had been detained since March for
criticizing the North's political system. The Hyundai worker, Yu Seong-jin, was
freed and returned home Thursday.
But the North Korean leader has been elusive this week, with state media
reporting his provincial tours. Hyun has extended her trip every day since
Wednesday, apparently waiting for a meeting with him.
"Considering the various circumstances, we found nothing new has happened today,"
a senior official at the Unification Ministry told reporters, referring to a
potential meeting with Kim. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to the
sensitivity of the issue.
Hyun is due to return Saturday unless she extends her trip for the fourth time,
the official said.
Following North Korea's rare fence-mending move, South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak is expected to express his Pyongyang policy in his Liberation Day
speech Saturday. However, he is expected to repeat his hardline call on North
Korea to end its nuclear weapons program and link economic aid to Pyongyang's
denuclearization.
Seoul officials still did not rule out the possibility that Kim may meet her at
the last minute. The two met for the first time in 2005 and twice more in 2007
to seal North Korea tour projects.
Hyun instead dined with a prominent Workers' Party department director, Kim
Yang-gon, who has spearheaded inter-Korean exchanges, on Thursday, Seoul
officials said. What they discussed was not known.
In contrast, Kim granted a meeting with U.S. former President Bill Clinton just
hours after he arrived in Pyongyang to bring two detained American journalists
home last week.
Hyun has business issues to resolve with the North Korean leader. Hyundai's
US$1.2 billion worth of joint industrial and tourism projects in North Korea were
suspended or scaled down last year as political relations unraveled, causing
massive deficits to the company.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)