South Korea's unification minister on Friday met with officials from local firms that invested in inter-Korean projects, including a now-suspended joint tour program, as they have called for more compensation over their losses.

About 1,150 South Korean firms invested in inter-Korean economic projects or entered into business deals with North Korea while inter-Korean relations remained good in 1998-2008 under South Korea's previous liberal administrations.

But they have suffered setbacks following Seoul's halt of a joint tour project at Mount Kumgang on the North's east coast and its imposition of sanctions in May 2010 over North Korea's sinking of a South Korean warship.

Minister Cho Myoung-gyun said that the government will make utmost efforts to provide financial help during his meeting with a group of 13 company officials, according to South Korea's unification ministry.

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.

Local investors in inter-Korean projects called on the government to make up for their losses in a similar manner to the financial support given to companies that ran factories at the now-halted joint industrial complex in North Korea's border city of Kaesong.

The tour project investors said that they poured a combined 170 billion won ($149 million) into the program, claiming that they have not received sufficient compensation for that.

The ministry said it provided around 22 billion won in special loans to them. About 400 million won in emergency funds was given to them as well.

The meeting was arranged as part of efforts to review additional assistance from the perspective of state responsibility for such local businessmen.

On Wednesday, the minister also met with 14 businessmen who ran factories at the now-suspended Kaesong Industrial Complex as they urged the government to provide more funds promptly to cover their losses over Seoul's closure of the factory zone. (Yonhap)