As Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun visited Kumgangsan in North Korea to attend a private service commemorating of her late husband Chung Mong-hun, shares rose Friday morning in expectation of the resumption of inter-Korean economic cooperation.

Share prices of Hyundai Group’s affiliates, including Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Hyundai Elevator and Hyundai-Rotem, were on upward trend this week. 

On Friday morning, stock price of Welcron, a company producing protective clothing to remove landmines in Demilitarized Zone, went up by as much as 12 percent during trading. Similar companies, Koas and Firstec, all saw shares rise more than 4 percent.

Hyundai Group has held a memorial event for late Chung in North Korea since 2003 after setting up Chung’s monument in Kumgangsan to commemorate his contribution to the inter-Korean economic cooperation. But, it was halted in 2016 when the North closed the Kaesong industrial park.

Amid a thaw on the Korean Peninsula, Hyun’s visit to the North was approved by the government. Hyun was accompanied by Lee Young-ha, CEO of Hyundai Asan, a company in charge of various business ventures between North and South Korea. 

Hyun’s Friday visit raised expectations about inter-Korean business projects, including tourism in Kumgangsan, road- and rail-building operations and Kaesong industrial park project.

In 2000, Hyundai Group earned 30-year business rights for North Korea’s seven areas of infrastructure, including power, communications, railways, dams, water resources and tourism, in exchange for $500 million.

By Shin Ji-hye(shinjh@heraldcorp.com)