/asia
SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- A North Korean soldier on Friday shot and killed a South Korean woman at Mt. Keumgang, a popular mountain resort in the communist nation, a government official in the South said.
The 53-year-old woman was shot around 5:30 a.m., according to Kim Ho-nyun, a South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman.
"South Korea deeply regrets that such an incident has happened," Kim said.
The body has been taken to a hospital in the South.
The woman was believed to have been on a walk and went beyond the resort's boundaries when the North Korean soldiers were ordered to shoot, North Korean authorities said, according to Hyundai Asan, the South Korean tour company that books the trips. 
Watch a report on the shooting »
The tours to the North have been suspended for the time being.
The resort is part of a tightly controlled and well-marked area along the east coast of the Korean peninsula and one of only two areas South Korean tourists are allowed to travel to in the North.
The South Korean government will conduct a full investigation into the incident and the North Korean authorities are expected to cooperate fully, according to Kim.
The incident occurred on the day South Korean President Lee Myung-bak proposed reopening stalled reconciliation talks with North Korea.
CNN's Sohn Jie-ae and Christine Kim contributed to this report.
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