South Korea's Unification Ministry on Wednesday approved Hyundai Asan Corp.'s bid to contact North Korea as the company seeks to visit the North next month to mark the anniversary of the death of its former chairman.

The operator of the now-suspended inter-Korean tour to Mount Kumgang on North Korea's east coast has held the memorial service for Chung Mong-hun at the mountain since his death in August 2003.

But it did not seek approval for the visit last year due to tensions sparked by the North's nuclear and missile tests.

The ministry said that it gave the green light to the company's plan to contact the North. If North Korea sends an invitation, Hyundai is expected to ask the government to approve its bid to visit the North.

If approved, it would mark the first visit by South Koreans to the North under the government of President Moon Jae-in.

In July 2008, Seoul suspended the Kumgang tour project after a South Korean woman was killed by a North Korean soldier at the mountain resort. The program was launched in 1998 under a previous liberal government.

The government announced the flexible resumption of civilian inter-Korean exchanges to an extent that the move would not compromise the international sanctions regime.

But North Korea has turned down South Korean aid groups' move to spur exchanges, in protest of Seoul's support of the latest UN sanctions. (Yonhap)