North Korea plans to hold an international tour fair in May at the Kumgang mountain resort on its east coast, where trips by South Korean people to the area have been stalled for nearly seven years, a Chinese newspaper reported Saturday, citing a North Korean official.

Mount Kumgang resort in North Korea, developed by the South Korean company Hyundai Asan, opened in 1998 as a symbol of reconciliation, but South Korea halted tours to the area after a South Korean tourist who strayed into a restricted military zone was shot dead in 2008.

The plan to hold an international tour fair at the mountain resort was unveiled by O Ung-gil, general manager of North Korea's Wonsan Area Development Corporation, at a tourism fair in the northern Chinese city of Shenyang on Friday, the Liaoning Xinwen reported.

The Chinese newspaper quoted the North Korean general manager as saying that North Korea "always opens its doors to investors and welcomes investors."

On Jan. 20, the North Korean general manager told the North's state media that Pyongyang will develop the mountain resort as a "world-level" tourism zone.

"We will carry on the development and tourism in the area at the same time through brisk exchange, and our general goal is to turn the zone into a world-level one with a high service standard and capability," O told the North's Korean Central News Agency. (Yonhap)