AmCham members denied visas to N.K.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AmCham) said Sunday that its mission to survey investment opportunities in North Korea was obliged to postpone its visit to the North planned for Dec. 9-12 because of the internal situation of North Korea.

Led by Chairman Jeffrey Jones, the group reached Beijing on Dec. 8 to get visas from the North Korean embassy there, but its members were denied visas and asked to delay the visit on the ground that Pyongyang was not yet ready to receive such a formal visit of a business mission. They had to fly back to Seoul Saturday.

The AmCham has been preparing for sending an investment mission to North Korea as a groundbreaking inter-Korean summit took place and Washington lifted its restrictions on investment in the North with the apparent progress of detente.

The American mission included representatives of Motorola (telecommunications), P&G (daily consumables), AIG (insurance), DuPont (pharmaceuticals), Kodak (film), PBMS (apparel) and United Technology (aircraft and defense industries).