Hyundai Group Chairman Hyun Jung-eun to Visit North Korea Tomorrow

Hyundai Group Chairman, Hyun Jung-eun will visit North Korea tomorrow for the first time since she has been inaugurated.

Chairman Hyun will visit Pyongyang with Hyundai-Asan president Kim Yun-kyu on May 11 and discuss Mt. Keumgang and the Gaeseong Industrial Complex project with Asian and Pacific council members from North Korea.

“This visit will be the opportunity to build trust and industrial cooperation between South and North Korea,” a Hyundai Group spokesperson said.

Analysis shows that it will be difficult for Chairman Hyun, unlike the late Hyundai group chairman Jung Mong-hun, to adhere to industrial cooperation with North Korea, even if she holds the title of president of the Hyundai-Asan council concurrently, because she has plans to rebuild the Hyundai Group with Hyundai Merchant Marine.

A source from the Hyundai Group said, “President Hyun will conduct practical business as a professional businessperson and direct the course of the group. She will visit North Korea often to address important issues.”

The economic world has commented on Hyun’s visit to North Korea as well, saying, “Chairman Hyun is expressing her will to propel economic cooperation between South and North Korea, and would like to strengthen her position and orthodoxy as the chairman of the Hyundai Group.”

Do-Young Kim nirvana1@donga.com