S. Korea says Hyundai-N.K. agreement 'positive' but needs government approval

(ATT: UPDATES with more quotes on family reunion, other details, minor edit in
headline)
By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, Aug. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Monday called Hyundai Group's accords
with the North to resume joint ventures "positive" but said they cannot be
implemented until after the two governments officially endorse them.
The response came after Hyundai chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun met with North Korean
leader Kim Jong-il and agreed to resume stalled tourism projects and reunions of
families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War.
"The government views Hyundai Group's joint statement with North Korea in a
positive way, but it is at the non-governmental level," Unification Ministry
spokesman Chun Hae-sung said.
"For this agreement to be realized, the governments of South and North Korea need
to reach a concrete agreement through dialogue," he said.
South Korea's top priority is resuming the family reunions, and will try to set
up inter-Korean Red Cross talks, the spokesman said. But he stopped short of
actually proposing dialogue, while North Korea suggested restarting the reunions
before Korea's thanksgiving holiday of Chuseok on Oct. 3.
"Whether we are going to propose dialogue in advance, it would be inappropriate
to discuss that until after a review is done" about Hyun's North Korea trip, Chun
said.
North Korea suspended family reunions in protest at Seoul's hardline policy after
the conservative Lee Myung-bak government came to power in Seoul in early 2008.
The reunion was a major outcome of the first inter-Korean summit in 2000.
South Korea suspended Hyundai's tour business to North Korea's Mount Kumgang in
July last year after a North Korean soldier shot dead a female South Korean
visitor who strayed into an off-limits military zone.
North Korea promptly expressed "regret" but rejected South Korea's demand to
investigate the site of the incident.
Seoul's position remains unchanged that North Korea should come up with
"preventive measures" against the recurring of such incidents, he said.
The agreement with Hyundai also includes the lifting of a traffic curfew North
Korea imposed in December on South Korean workers traveling to a joint industrial
park in its border town of Kaesong.
Hyundai has invested US$1.2 billion in North Korea over the past decade. The
stalled tourism ventures caused massive financial losses to its business unit,
Hyundai Asan Corp.
Hyun traveled to Pyongyang last week for what was supposed to be a three-day
mission to bring a detained employee home. Yu Seong-jin, who was accused of
criticizing the North's political system, was freed and returned home, but Hyun
extended her stay five times until Sunday for the meeting with Kim.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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