Still no schedule for Hyun to meet with Kim Jong-il

The waiting game was extended by at least one more day for Hyun Jeong-eun, the Hyundai Group chairwoman who has been waiting in Pyongyang since Monday to sit down with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Hyun was initially scheduled to return Wednesday but has stretched her trip for a third time. She traveled to Pyongyang on Monday upon North Korea’s invitation. Yu Song-jin, the Hyundai Asan engineer who was held in North Korea for more than four months, was released on Thursday evening, but Hyun stayed on the north side of the border.

Speculation is rife as to when, or if, Hyun will meet Kim. A report by the state-run Korean Central News Agency claimed on Thursday that Kim was in Wonsan, Gangwon, southeast of Pyongyang. No further details on his whereabouts were available at press time yesterday.

Chun Hae-sung, spokesman for the Unification Ministry, said he understands Hyun is staying in Pyongyang but that it was “inappropriate” for him to speculate about the possibility of a meeting with the North Korean leader.

A government source, requesting anonymity, said Hyun didn’t take any message from the Lee Myung-bak administration to Pyongyang, suggesting that freeing Yu was a humanitarian action separate from the two Koreas’ political relations. The source added that Yu’s release won’t necessarily lead to greater aid for the North.

Cho Kun-shik, president of Hyundai Group affiliate Hyundai Asan, said Hyun had sat down to dinner with Kim Yang-gon, a key North Korean government official, but he did not know when the two had met. Kim Yang-gon is head of the United Front Department at the ruling Workers’ Party and oversees inter-Korean business programs, including the stalled Mount Kumgang tourism program. One of closest aides to Kim Jong-il, Kim Yang-gon made a clandestine visit to Seoul in 2007 to meet Roh Moo-hyun, South Korean president at the time, to arrange the inter-Korean summit that fall.

Hyundai Asan, which operated the Kumgang tour package, said yesterday its first-half operating loss for this year ballooned to 19.3 billion won ($15.6 million), a fourfold increase on-year. The company said it has also slashed the number of its employees from 1,084 July last year to 411.

Following Yu’s release, the fate of four South Korean fishermen detained in North Korea since July 30 after their boat crossed the maritime border, remained unclear.

While Hyun stayed in North Korea to deal with this and other issues, Yu underwent medical tests at Asan Medical Center in eastern Seoul, with more to follow today. He is staying at a special ward guarded by police and security personnel.

Chun of the Unification Ministry said relevant agencies will soon begin an investigation on Yu while keeping an eye on his health. Yu’s older brother, Song-kwon, told Yonhap News that Song-jin admitted he made critical comments about the North Korean political system, as the North authorities alleged when they detained him on March 30.

“Song-jin said he talked about Kim Jong-il, his younger sister [Kim Kyong-hui], and [his third son] Kim Jong-un,” he said. “The North Koreans kept him in a Kaesong inn with no outside contact. Song-jin said he had no idea what would happen to him until right before his release.”

By Yoo Jee-ho, Yeh Young-june [jeeho@joongang.co.kr]