Hyundai chief buried

Mr Chung: Visionary or villain?

The Hyundai boss who apparently jumped to his death after being interrogated over charges of corruptly channelling money to North Korea has been buried in South Korea.

Chung Mong-hun, chairman of the Hyundai Asan group, faced trial over the transfer of $400m to North Korea ahead of the groundbreaking North-South peace summit in 2000.

"We all known that you sacrificed yourself to dispel the sadness of the division of Korea," the dean of Sogang University Park Hong said in a speech to the mourners.

The North-South summit won South Korea's then-president Kim Dae Jung the Nobel Peace prize but has since been tarnished by the "cash-for-summit" scandal.

Tour business

North Korean press has described the pursuit of corruption charges against Mr Chung and his death as "political murder".

Eight people were indicted over a scandal surrounding the summit

About 2,000 people attended the ceremony at a hospital in Seoul.

Mourners paid their respects before Mr Chung's flower-framed portrait as Beethoven's Eroica symphony was played.

Mr Chung, the fifth son of the founder of the Hyundai industrial group, one of South Korea's biggest and richest conglomerates, was charged with corruption in June.

Mr Chung's firm, Hyundai Asan was responsible for the group's dealings with North Korea.

It held the franchise to run tours to Mount Kumgang, a legendary beauty spot on the rugged east coast of North Korea famous in folk songs.

The tour business provided valuable economic support to Communist North Korea's shaky economy, which suffers from food shortages and dilapidated industrial infrastructure.

Since 1998, Hyundai Asan has lost more than $500m on taking tourists to the mountain.

Hyuandai Asan says it paid $400m to gain the tour franchise.

SUMMIT SCANDAL June 2000: Leaders from North and South Korea meet Nov 2000: S Korea's Kim Dae-jung wins Nobel Peace Prize Jan 2003: "Cash-for-summit" allegations over $500m payment to North 2003: Hyundai and government aides are criticised, and some charged

But an independent investigation found that $100m was paid on behalf of the South Korean Government to help bring about the summit.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, who took office five months ago, praised Mr Chung's work in promoting ties with North Korea when news of the death broke.

He pledged to do his best to promote North-South commercial links.

Such business projects are seen by many as vital to advancing diplomacy with North Korea and averting a nuclear crisis.