North Korea has said it would welcome a trip to Pyongyang by the chairwoman of South Korea’s Hyundai Group for the funeral of leader Kim Jong-il, government and company officials said Thursday.

The move came after South Korea sent a sympathy message to the North Korean people over Kim’s demise and allowed civilians and private organizations to send messages of condolence to the North.

South Korea also said it will allow Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun and the family of late South Korean President Kim Dae-jung to visit North Korea for the funeral.

South Korea made the exception because North Korea sent separate condolence delegations to Seoul after the deaths of President Kim and Chung Mong-hun, Hyun’s late husband and former Hyundai Group chairman.

All trips to North Korea by South Koreans require prior approval as the Koreas remain in a technical state of war following a cease-fire at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

South Korea will not send an official condolence delegation to the North.

On Wednesday, North Korea said in a message to Hyundai it would welcome her visit through the land border separating the two Koreas, according to a Hyundai official. He asked not to be identified, citing company policy.

Government officials confirmed the substance of the North’s message to Hyundai.

The North appears to have made a special exception for the South Koreans as it earlier said it would not accept foreign delegations at a state funeral scheduled for Wednesday.

The trip may offer a rare chance for Hyun to talk to North Korea’s new leader Kim Jong-un, the youngest son of the late leader.

Hyundai has long been mired in a dispute with North Korea over a stalled tour program to a mountain resort in the isolated country. 

(Yonhap News)