Unification Minister Kim Yeon-chul on Wednesday vowed that the government will actively pursue the resumption of the Mount Geumgang tourism project with North Korea.

Speaking at a forum at the nonprofit U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, Kim said the government will actively seek to revive the tour project through consultation with North Korea, calling the project a "symbol of inter-Korean exchanges and cooperation."

The minister said that the government will also seek to create an inter-Korean joint tour zone in East Sea coastal areas as the two sides agreed at an inter-Korean summit in September last year.

The remarks came after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last month ordered the removal of South Korean resort facilities at Mount Geumgang, which lies on the east coast just north of the inter-Korean border.

The unification minister also said that relations between the U.S. and North Korea cannot move forward when inter-Korean relations are strained, hinting at Seoul's intention to help facilitate the North's denuclearization through improved relations between the two Koreas.