South Korean officials, say that the DPRK has freed a South Korean worker detained in the country. It ends a dispute that has lasted for months, and brightens prospects for improved relations between the two sides.

The detained worker, Yoo Seong-jin is an employee for Hyundai Group's DPRK business arm, Hyundai Asan. He crossed the border and arrived at a South Korean immigration control center late on Thursday.

The 44-year-old technician worked at an industrial zone in the DPRK's border city of Kaesong, where about 110 South Korean-run factories employ about 40-thousand DPRK workers.

He was detained in March for allegedly denouncing the DPRK's political system.

The release comes days after Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun travelled to Pyongyang in an effort to secure his freedom.

Hyundai has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the industrial zone and a joint tourist project. But renewed tension between the rivals has seen a suspension of trips to the DPRK by South Korean tourists.

(CCTV August 14, 2009)