Hyundai Group chairwoman seeks to visit North Korea

Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun / Newsis

By Jun Ji-hye

Hyun Jeong-eun, chairwoman of Hyundai Group, is pushing to visit North Korea to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of her late husband and former chairman of the group, Chung Mong-hun, according to unification ministry officials, Friday.

Hyun is seeking to visit Mount Geumgang in the North in August to hold a memorial service for the late former chairman.

“Hyundai Group officials submitted a plan to visit North Korea to the Ministry of Unification last Tuesday,” a ministry official said. “The ministry is reviewing the document and will process it in accordance with procedures.”

The submission of the plan is the first step in a two-stage process for South Koreans seeking to visit the North and meet people there. If all requirements are met, the process moves to the next stage, typically within seven days.

In the next stage, individuals can request their North Korean counterpart an invitation to visit the North. If the invitation is issued from the North, it is then submitted to the unification ministry for government permission.

Hyundai Group formerly ran sightseeing programs to the North Korean scenic mountain but they were suspended after a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier at the mountain resort in 2008.

Hyun held a memorial service for the late Chung at the North Korean mountain in 2018 to mark the 15th anniversary of his death.

Still, it remains to be seen whether the North will issue an invitation for Hyun, considering that inter-Korean relations have recently been strained. In addition, Pyongyang has strictly closed its borders due to the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020.

If the North sends an invitation to Hyun, it is widely expected that the government would approve Hyun's visit to the North, as her visit could serve as an opportunity to better understand what is going on north of the border.