Hyundai Group won't give up projects in N. Korea: chief

SEOUL, July 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Hyundai Group will not give up its
business projects in North Korea, despite heightened tension on the divided
Korean Peninsula following the North's second nuclear test and other belligerent
acts, the group's chairwoman said.
Hyun Jung-eun, chairwoman of Hyundai, the parent of Hyundai Asan Corp. in charge
of doing business with North Korea, admitted the group is struggling with
financial woes as two major tour programs to the North's scenic Mount Kumgang and
border city of Kaesong were halted.
South Korea has halted the tour to the North's mountain since July last year,
when a 53-year-old South Korean housewife was fatally shot dead by North Korean
guards while vacationing there.
Another tour to the North's ancient city of Kaesong was also closed late last
year amid escalating tension.
"Hyundai Asan as well as Hyundai Group are undergoing difficulty as tours to
Mount Kumgang and Kaesong were stalled," Hyun told employees at a group pep rally
on Saturday.
"But I won't give up (hope for our) businesses in North Korea," Hyun said, urging
employees not to "lose hope" of resuming the tours.
The future of inter-Korean business projects, including a joint industrial park
in Kaesong, has become increasingly clouded as North Korea ratchets up tension.
North Korea conducted its second nuclear test in May and fired several missiles
after the United Nations imposed sanctions against the North's test-firing of a
long-range missile.
On Saturday, North Korea launched seven short-range missiles into waters off its
east coast, drawing immediate condemnations from South Korea, the U.S. and Japan.
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