Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun will visit North Korea next week to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its long-suspended tourism program to a scenic North Korean mountain, a government official said Thursday.

More than 100 South Koreans, including Hyundai executives, lawmakers, former officials and journalists, will visit Mount Kumgang on the North's east coast for two days from Sunday, according to the unification ministry official.

"The government approved their request for a visit to Mount Kumgang today," he told reporters on condition of anonymity. "It, however, has nothing to do with the resumption of the tour program."

About 80 North Koreans will also take part in the celebration, Hyundai Group officials said.

Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung -- Hyun's late father-in-law -- started the tourism program at Mount Kumgang on Nov. 18, 1998.

The tour program was a key symbol of reconciliation between the two Koreas, which technically remain at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended only with an armistice, not a peace treaty. It drew about 370,000 tourists in 2007.

The Seoul government, however, suspended the tour program in 2008 following the deadly shooting of a South Korean female tourist near the resort.

The celebration events had been held annually for years despite the suspension of the tour program, but they have not taken place since 2015 when inter-Korean relations deteriorated.

With a recent thaw in relations between the two Koreas, expectations have been growing for a resumption of the tour program. Their leaders agreed in September to normalize the tour program when conditions are met.

Hyundai Group expressed hope that the upcoming celebration events will help create a favorable atmosphere for the tour program to be normalized "as quickly as possible." (Yonhap)