Seoul is considering buying South Korean firms’ assets in the Geumgang tour zone in North Korea as part of its widening efforts to help local firms financially distressed by the suspension of inter-Korean trade and economic cooperation.

The Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean issues, has recently conveyed its willingness to purchase South Korean firms’ assets in the North’s Mount Geumgang resort areas in a meeting of subcontractors for Hyundai Asan, the local partner firm for the now-suspended Geumgang tour program, according to government and industry sources.

The plan comes as the government seeks ways to help relieve distress for the subcontracting firms, heavily hit by the four-year suspension of the inter-Korean tourist project over the scenic mountain near the border.

The cross-border tour program, which started in 1998 as a major symbol of softening inter-Korean relations, was suspended in 2008 following the North’s shooting death of a South Korean woman tourist. (Yonhap News)