Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun was due to return later Sunday from her week-long trip to North Korea amid no sign of a meeting with the North's leader Kim Jong-il, group officials said.
"The last message we got yesterday was she would return today, so we believe that is effective until we get a new call," Kim Ha-young, a spokesman with Hyundai Asan Corp., the group's North Korea business unit, was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.
Hyundai said they expected the chairwoman to return later in the afternoon, but did not rule out the possibility that she could extend her trip again.
Hyun traveled to North Korea Monday for what was initially a three-day mission to win the release of an employee detained there since March. The Hyundai worker, Yu Seong-jin, was freed and returned home Thursday, but Hyun extended her trip four times, apparently waiting for a meeting with the reclusive North Korean leader.
Hyundai has been in dire financial shape since its joint ventures in North Korea hit a snag last year amid worsening political relations between Seoul and Pyongyang.
Chances of an imminent breakthrough between the two Koreas appear dim. In an anniversary speech marking Liberation Day on Saturday, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak reiterated his hard-line policy over North Korea's nuclear weapons program, conditioning economic aid on its denuclearization.
North Korea, meanwhile, has warned of a "merciless retaliation" as South Korea and the United States begin a joint military exercise next week.
North Korean media made no mention of Kim's activities on Sunday. He was last reported to be on a provincial inspection tour on Thursday. Hyun met Kim in 2005 and 2007 during visits to Pyongyang to discuss Hyundai's North Korea ventures.