By Kim Yoo-chul
Ninety-seven South Korean businesspeople including some having business connections in third countries started a visit to North Korea, Thursday, after gaining approval from the Ministry of Unification.
“The ministry approved the trip to the North for 97 individuals, who will stay there through Sunday,” said a ministry official.
The businesspeople will participate in the 2018 Pyongyang Forum of Overseas Korean Entrepreneurs for Peace and Prosperity on the Korean Peninsula, which was initially planned to take place in mid-October.
They arrived in Pyongyang late Thursday after boarding a flight from Shenyang in northern China. As North Korea's national carrier Air Koryo doesn't usually operate a Shenyang-Pyongyang flight on this day, analysts raised the prospect of Pyongyang using a a special charter for the event.
The ministry official said the businesspeople will meet North Korean officials during their stay and be briefed on the Kim Jong-un regime's progress toward developing its economy.
“Several meetings and company inspection trips have been planned for them,” the official said without elaborating.
Local media reports said the participants will attend sessions on North Korea's current economic conditions, and be given a chance to make personal connections ahead of possible developments in inter-Korean relations.
The ministry official said the United States was notified of the trip and event before it granted approval for the businesspeople to enter the North. “Participation in the event is unrelated to Seoul's efforts to accelerate inter-Korean business projects,” he said.
The four-day event is organized by the Asia-Pacific Pyongyang Peace Association and the Federation for the People's Economic Cooperation, along with the Seoul-based World Federation of Korean Association of Commerce (WFKAC).