Samsung heir to join Moon for summit in North Korea

THE heir to the Samsung empire and leaders of several other South Korean conglomerates will go to Pyongyang this week for an inter-korean summit, Seoul announced yesterday.

Samsung’s Lee Jae-yong and the heads of the SK Group and LG Electronics will be part of President Moon Jae-in’s delegation as he heads for a meeting with Kim Jong-un, the North’s leader, Mr Moon’s office said.

Kim Yong-hwan, vice-chairman of Hyundai Motor Group – whose founder was a refugee from North Korea – and Hyun Jeong-eun, chairman of the separate Hyundai Group, which pioneered many cross-border economic projects, will also accompany Moon.

Hyun met Kim Jong-il, Mr Kim’s father, several times and was among the first South Koreans to meet the young leader when he assumed power in 2011.

Mr Moon has advocated closer economic ties across the border, despite multiple sanctions on the North over its atomic weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

He is set to fly to the capital tomorrow for a three-day summit – his third meeting this year with the young ruler of the isolated country.

The delegation of about 200 includes top Seoul officials as well as prominent figures in the economy, religion, culture and sports.

US efforts to persuade the nucleararmed North to ditch its weapons have been stalled since Mr Kim and President Donald Trump vowed to denuclearise the peninsula at their landmark summit in June.