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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Hyundai Group chief visiting Pyongyang over detained worker |
| 2009-08-11 |
| SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- The chairwoman of Hyundai Group visited Pyongyang on Monday to seek the release of a detained employee, signaling a possible breakthrough in the case and in stalled inter-Korean relations. The three-day trip by Hyun Jung-eun comes amid growing speculation that North Korea may extend a friendly gesture toward Seoul in line with its recent pardoning of two American journalists. "I will make my efforts for that," Hyun said before driving across the inter-Korean land border. The North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) later reported Hyun's arrival in Pyongyang. The worker with Hyundai Asan Corp., the North Korea business arm of Hyundai Group, was detained on March 30 at a joint industrial park in the North's border town of Kaesong where he had been employed for years. North Korea accused the Hyundai employee, identified by his surname Yu, of "slandering" the North's political system and trying to persuade a local woman to defect to the South. In contrast to the American journalists who were allowed phone calls to family and consular contact, North Korea has not granted any outside access to Yu during his detention. Hyundai said it was not yet decided whether Hyun will be granted a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, but it did not rule out the possibility. She met with the North Korean leader in 2005 and 2007 to reach accords on joint tourism ventures. "We have to see. We were not notified of such a schedule by North Korea in advance," Kim Young-soo, a Hyundai Asan spokesman, said. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 She better be careful or they'll |
| Posted by: gorb 2009-08-11 01:15 |