Seoul (AFP) – The head of South Korea’s Hyundai Group, responsible for pioneering many inter-Korean business projects, expressed hope Friday that cross-border tours to the North would resume this year following a recent diplomatic thaw on the peninsula.
Hyun Jeong-eun made the remarks after completing a rare visit to the North’s scenic Mount Kumgang where she attended a memorial service for her late husband Chung Mong-hun, her first trip to the country since 2014.
Hyundai has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into running inter-Korean projects in the North that have since closed, including the jointly-operated Kaesong industrial complex, a tourist resort at Mount Kumgang, as well as tours for South Korean visitors in an effort to promote cross-border ties.
“We have expectations to resume the tour programme within this year. That’s what the North was thinking too,” Hyun told reporters after returning home from the day-long visit to the North.
She met Kim Yong Chol, a senior North Korean official involved in inter-Korean exchanges, who reaffirmed Pyongyang’s “constant” trust in Hyundai as a business partner, Hyun said.
The visit came as the North’s state-run newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, urged Seoul to resume cross-border business links despite UN sanctions over Pyongyang’s banned nuclear programme.
Seoul suspended all tours to Mount Kumgang in 2008 when a North Korean soldier shot dead a South Korean woman there.
The Kaesong complex was shuttered eight years later at the order of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, known for her hawkish stance toward the isolated North.
Park’s successor, Moon Jae-in, vowed to strengthen cross-border economic cooperation by establishing railway and roadway links connecting the two countries at a landmark summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in April.
News of Hyun’s visit appeared to boost share prices of Hyundai Group’s affiliates, including Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Hyundai Elevator and Hyundai-Rotem, reflecting hopes for the resuscitation of inter-Korean business ties.
Shares of Welcron, a company producing protective gear for soldiers clearing landmines in the Demilitarised Zone that divides the peninsula, went up by as much as 12 percent in morning trade before yielding early gains to close 4.5 percent higher.
Hyun met with late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il several times and was among the first South Koreans to meet his son and current leader Kim Jong Un after he assumed power.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.