Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun has returned to South Korea after an eight-day stay in North Korea.

After a long awaited meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on Sunday, she returned to the South through Dorasan station transit office in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, around 2:20 p.m. Monday.

In a statement made upon her arrival, she said it’s fortunate that the Hyundai Asan worker who had been detained in the North for over four months has returned home. Hyun, who ventured to the North to secure the release of the worker, then thanked the South Korean government and people for their support in the efforts to win his release.

Hyun said a number of pending issues were addressed during the four-hour talks with the North Korean leader, including the resumption of South Korean tours to the North’s Mount Geumgang resort.

Regarding the South Korean tourist shot and killed by a North Korean soldier at the resort last year, the chairwoman quoted Kim as pledging that such an incident will never happen again.

She agreed with Pyongyang to resume tours to Geumgang and to seek reunions of separated families in the two Koreas, both of which will require the Seoul government’s approval. She said she will work with the government to carry out the agreements reached with North Korea.

Hyun’s trip was originally scheduled to last three days but was extended five times in order for her to meet with Kim.