Hyundai Group chief withdraws application to visit Mt. Kumgang after N. Korea's refusal
Koo Byoung-sam, spokesperson for the unification ministry, speaks during a regular press briefing at the government complex in Seoul, July 3. Yonhap
The chief of South Korea's Hyundai Group has withdrawn an application to visit North Korea's Mount Kumgang, after the North said it has "no intention to examine" the application, an official at Seoul's unification ministry said Monday.
Hyun Jeong-eun, chairwoman of Hyundai Group, which had run sightseeing programs at the North Korean mountain, had been seeking to visit the North in August to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of her husband and former chairman of the group, Chung Mong-hun.
Last Saturday, North Korea rejected Hyun's bid to visit Mount Kumgang, saying that Pyongyang has the policy of not permitting the entry of South Korean nationals into its territory.
"We make it clear that we have neither been informed about any South Korean personage's willingness for visit nor known about it and that we have no intention to examine it," Kim Song-il, a director general of the North's foreign ministry, was quoted as saying by state media.
Hyundai Asan, a subsidiary of Hyundai Group that had operated businesses in North Korea, told the Ministry of Unification that it has withdrawn the application to visit Mount Kumgang, Koo Byung-sam, a ministry spokesperson, told reporters.
"The government will accept it later in the day," Koo said.
The North's swift refusal came amid expectations that it would not allow Hyun's visit as it has strictly closed its border due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has raised tensions on the Korean Peninsula with weapons tests. (Yonhap)