North Korea on Thursday moved to reopen talks with the South on resuming cross-border tours to a scenic mountain area and a border town, which were halted in 2008.

The tour to Diamond Mountain (Mount Kumgang) on the east coast was put on hold in July 2008 after a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier when she strayed into a restricted area near the resort.

The tour to Kaesong, in the southeasternmost corner of North Korea, immediately north of the Korean Demilitarized Zone, was also suspended in November of the same year.

The tours had been significant sources of revenues for the reclusive communist state.

"It is highly regrettable that tours to Mt. Kumgang and the Kaesong area have been suspended for one and a half years," the official North Korean Central News Agency said.

MOSCOW, January 14 (RIA Novosti)