North Korea today released a South Korean worker accused of insulting its leaders after nearly five months in detention and handed him over to the South.
Hyundai Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun arrived in Pyongyang on Monday to seek the release of the worker identified by his family name, Yoo, and held at a joint factory park, and the resumption of tourism to the Mount Kumgang resort in North Korea.
Yoo was turned over to South Korean authorities at the factory park in Kaesong, about 70km northwest of Seoul, the Unification Ministry said, while local news outlets reported he would soon cross into the South.
Yoo has been held since late March at the factory park where about 100 South Korean firms use cheap North Korean labour and land to make their goods.
Hyundai has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the Mount Kumgang resort, whose operations were suspended a year ago, and the factory enclave in the North Korean border city of Kaesong, which is the last major economic project between the two Koreas.
The worker's release comes after former US President Bill Clinton last week visited North Korea where he met leader Kim Jong-il and won the freedom of two US journalists also held since March for suspected illegal entry.
The release could also lead to restored business ties with South Korea's giant Hyundai Group and calm investors worried about troubles spinning out of control.
The North has raised tension in recent months with a nuclear test, ballistic missile tests and threats to attack its capitalist neighbour.
The two Koreas are technically still at war after their 1950-53 Korean conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
Reuters