Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Hyundai Asan Chief Visits DPRK to Discuss Tour Project
South korea's Hyundai Asan President Kim Yoon-kyu and about 10 working-level company officials began a trip to DPRK Wednesday to discuss the resumption of overland tours to Mount Geumgang and other pending issues with DPRK officials, the firm said.
South korea's Hyundai Asan President Kim Yoon-kyu and about 10 working-level company officials began a trip to DPRK Wednesday to discuss the resumption of overland tours to Mount Geumgang and other pending issues with DPRK Officials, the firm said.
The four-day visit is the first to the North by Hyundai Asan officials since the Aug. 4 suicide of Chairman Chung Mong-hun.
"The Hyundai Asan delegation will talk with the (North) Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee about the reopening of the cross-border tour project and other pending issues, including a dedication ceremony for Chung Ju-yung Gymnasium in Pyongyang," a Hyundai Asan official said.
Hyundai Asan operates overland and cruise tours to Mount Geumgang, a scenic mountain on the eastern coast of DPRK. On Aug. 6, Pyongyang temporary halted the cruise tours out of respect for Chung, who leaped to his death from his 12th-floor office in central Seoul. Chung was the fifth son of the deceased Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung.
Late last month, Hyundai Asan and DPRK agreed to restart overland tours from South Korea to the mountain, but it is unclear whether they will resume, analysts said.
They further predicted the results of the bilateral talks may serve as a litmus test for the future of Hyundai Asan's DPRK projects.
The sea route to Mount Geumgang reopened Wednesday, with 520 South Korean tourists taking a cruise to the resort area.
Meanwhile, about 800 South Korean university students crossed the inter-Korean border Wednesday to participate in a peace festival in Pyongyang to mark the Aug. 15 liberation of the peninsula from Japanese colonial rule in 1945.
Liberation Day is a major holiday in both Koreas, marked by pro-unification events and festivities.