Kim Jong-il meets Hyundai chairwoman

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-16 21:40

SEOUL: The leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong-il has met the chairwoman of the Republic of Korea (ROK)'s massive Hyundai Group, who was in Pyongyang to seek the release of an employee detained in the DPRK, DPRK media reported.

It was the second-high profile meeting in about two weeks for Kim, 67 and thought to be recovering from illness. He hosted Bill Clinton on August 4 when the former US president won the release of two American journalists held in the country.

Kim's talks with Hyun Jeong-eun, one of the few ROK executives to have direct dealings with the North Korean leader, were his first major meeting with a prominent figure from the South in nearly two years.

"Kim Jong-il ... had a cordial talk with her in an atmosphere of compatriotic feelings, remembering the predecessors of the Hyundai Group with deep emotion," the DPRK's KCNA news agency said.

Hyun has been in Pyongyang for about a week and extended her stay by another day on Sunday after already prolonging her visit several times.

On Thursday, the DPRK released a ROK Hyundai worker who had been held for nearly five months, accused of insulting its leaders.

The series of contacts and conciliatory gestures may go some way to calming investors worried about troubles in the DPRK spinning out of control.

Hyundai has invested hundreds of million of dollars in a joint factory park and the Mount Kumgang mountain resort in the DPRK. The Kaesong factory park is still operating but the resort was closed about a year ago after a fatal accident.