SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - A soldier fatally shot a South Korean tourist Friday at a resort in North Korea, prompting the South to suspend a high-profile tourism program just as the president was seeking to repair strained ties with his communist neighbor.

The death of the 53-year-old woman, who the North said had ventured into a restricted military area during a pre-dawn stroll at a beach, followed a series of hostile North Korean moves against South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

Since Lee assumed office in February with a tougher line on dealing with the North, the Pyongyang regime has expelled South Korean officials from joint economic projects, labeled Lee a "traitor" and warned of renewed fighting between the Koreas.

The shooting happened just hours before Lee went to the new South Korean parliament to deliver a speech extending a peace offering to the North by calling for the resumption of reconciliation talks and offering humanitarian aid.

A spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry, Kim Ho-nyeon, announced that the government was suspending tours to the North's Diamond Mountain resort pending an investigation of the shooting.

North Korea said the shooting victim, Park Wang-ja, walked three-quarters of a mile into a fenced-off military zone, then fled when a soldier shouted for her to stop -- and kept running after a warning shot, according to Hyundai Asan, the company that runs tours to Diamond Mountain.

About 1,200 tourists at the resort can complete their trips as scheduled if they choose to do so, leaving as late as Sunday, according to Hyundai Asan.

The business is a source of much-needed hard currency for impoverished North Korea, which made no official comment on the killing or on Lee's speech.

Lee was briefed on the shooting just before he headed to the National Assembly for his address, the presidential office said.

He told aides to investigate the case thoroughly and called on North Korea to "actively cooperate" with the probe, presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said. The spokesman added that it was "not appropriate" to connect the speech with the tourist's death.

Deals questioned

The two Koreas remain technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in a cease-fire, but they developed warmer ties during a decade of liberal South Korean governments that sought to reverse a half-century of animosity.

Lee, a conservative, took a more critical stance upon assuming the presidency, saying he would not give the North special treatment. He questioned deals reached at two summits between leaders of the North and South and said they should be implemented only if they had economic merit.

But on Friday, Lee softened his tone and said he would respect the earlier summit agreements.

"Full dialogue between the two Koreas must resume," Lee told parliament. "The South Korean government is willing to engage in serious consultations on how to implement" the summit deals and other previous agreements, he said.

Analysts said the North was unlikely to accept Lee's offer soon. There was no immediate response from the reclusive North, which usually takes its time to acknowledge outside developments.

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