Tours to North Korea’s Mount Baekdu will likely be delayed to next year.

President of the Korea Tourism Organization Kim Jong-min said Tuesday that pilot tours to Mount Beakdu that had been scheduled for this year will be postponed until next spring due to 'inevitable reasons.'

He did not elaborate on the reason for the delay except to say that temperatures in the area had already dropped below zero.

However, Kim said tours to Pyongyang may be pushed forward as renovation projects for major tourist attractions in the North Korean capital will be launched next month with South Korean support.

Hyundai Asan and the state-run tourism agency were to begin pilot tours to the scenic mountain on the North's border with China later this month.

Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun struck an agreement on the tour when she met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang in July.

But the tour program faltered after Hyundai Asan dismissed Kim Yoon-kyu, a top executive and a favorite of Pyongyang, for embezzlement.