An official of Hyundai Asan, the company in charge of tours to North Korea, says the North notified the company in early September that it's willing to hold working-level contact with Hyundai to resume tours to the border city of Gaeseong.

The official said Hyundai has conveyed the notice to the Unification Ministry in Seoul.

The company also said that on October 20th, a Hyundai Asan official met a Pyongyang official at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex to discuss road repair but that they also discussed the terms of resuming tours to the city.

Since the shooting death of a South Korean tourist at Mount Geumgang in July last year, South Korea has presented three conditions to resuming cross-border tours. The conditions are that the North get to the bottom of the deadly incident, set up preventive measures and guarantee the safety of South Korean tourists.

North Korea and Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun agreed to work to resume the tours during Hyun’s visit to Pyongyang in August.