Ex-Hyundai Official Visits N. Korea

Former Vice Chairman of Hyundai Asan Corporation Kim Yoon-kyu paid a visit to North Korea for the first time since being dismissed from the Hyundai Group for his involvement in an embezzlement scandal on August 2005.

A government official announced yesterday, “Former Vice Chairman Kim and former Managing Director of Hyundai Asan Yook Jae-hee (currently part-time adviser) visited North Korea from August 26 to 29.” Their visit is reported to have been made upon the invitation of Ri Jong-hyuk, vice chairman of the North`s Asia-Pacific Peace Committee.

Kim’s visit was initially intended to accompany Kiturami Boiler in order to examine how briquette boilers the company supported to the North are being used. However, Kim came to visit the country alone as Kiturami Boiler cancelled its visit for its business schedule.

The boiler company has been aiding the North in various ways. It provided, for instance, the country with more than 1,000 Kiturami Pyongyang Boilers and its manufacturing technology in June last year. Kiturami Pyongyang Boilers were specially manufactured uniquely for the North, which is suffering from a dire energy crisis.

Some observers point out that Kim’s visit is linked in a way to the North’s persistent demand to the S. Korean authorities that Lotte Tour be included in the Gaesong tour business.

In the business circles, rumors run that Kim has some ties with Lotte Tour and that he is pressuring the South continuously to invite Lotte Tour to the Gaesong tour business by exerting his influence on the North.

For its part, North Korea has completely banned South Korean officials from entering downtown Gaesong since July 1 to express its uneasiness with the South rejecting its demand for Lotte Tour’s involvement in the Gaesong tour business.

An aide to former Vice Chairman Kim, however, denied the assumption in a recent interview with a media outlet, saying, “Kim’s visit is unrelated to Lotte Tour.”

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