South Korea’s hotel and resort operator Ananti Inc., which has a golf course and resort in North Korea, is expected to name world-renowned investor Jim Rogers an outside director.

The company announced in a regulatory filing on Monday that it will put the plan to a shareholder vote on Dec.27. Market experts expect that the shareholders are highly likely to approve the plan as Rogers’ join could significantly enhance the company’s corporate value.

On Tuesday, shares of Ananti on the nation’s secondary Kosdaq market soared 26.77 percent to close at 12,500 won.

The recommendation came amid thawing inter-Korean relations this year, according to sources. Ananti hopes to receive various advices from Rogers regarding its investment plan on North Korean businesses, while Rogers is expected to look for investment opportunities by closely watching how the inter-Korean cooperation unfolds.

Market watchers at home and abroad also speculate that the movement might signal an easing of sanctions against North Korea and resumption of inter-Korean economic cooperation. The legendary investor said during an interview with Maeil Business Newspaper in July that North Korea would follow the footsteps of China which has showed an explosive economic growth over the past 40 years after establishing a series of diplomatic relations with Western countries in the 1980s.

Ananti in 2008 opened a luxury resort including an 18-hole golf course and spa in Mount Kumgang after leasing a 1.68 million-square-meter area from Hyundai Asan, who has an exclusive right to carry out infrastructure projects in North Korea. The business has been shut down, however, after the Mount Kumgang tours were halted two months later when a South Korean tourist was fatally shot by a North Korean soldier.

But following a series of historic summits between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in as well as with U.S. President Donald Trump, hopes are growing high that the U.S.-led economic sanctions on North Korea would be eased.

By Jeon Ji-sung and Choi Mira

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]