Korea Times
2/5/2007
Hyundai Asan, the company specializing in inter-Korean business cooperation, Monday marked its eighth anniversary.
The affiliate under the Hyundai Group, led by Hyun Jung-eun, the widow of Chung Mong-hun, the successor of the group founder Chung Ju-yung, said that this year it plans to attract 400,000 tourists to Mt. Kumgang, the North Korean scenic mountain on the East Coast.
Hyundai Asan also said that it also will push ahead with tours of Kaesong, a historic North Korean city near the inter-Korean border that is home to a South Korean-invested industrial complex, this year so as to meet its sales target of 300 billion won.
Under its plan, Hyundai plans to hold working-level meetings with North Korea so as to hasten the start of the Kaesong tours.
However, industry observers say that Hyundai may find it difficult to meet this year’s sales goal because of the nuclear confrontation between Pyongyang and the international community. Last year, Hyundai set its target for tourists at 400,000 but fell short at 240,000 after a series of provocative actions by the North starting with its test of a nuclear device.
That worsened the financial situation of Hyundai Asan, forcing it to make 10 percent of its work force at its headquarters work from home in a restructuring move.
Hyundai officials said that this year the situation may improve, but this would be unlikely to have any direct bearing on its bottom line.
