North Korean soldier kills tourist from South

A North Korean soldier fatally shot a South Korean tourist yesterday at a mountain resort in the communist North, prompting the South to suspend the high-profile tour program, just as its new president sought to rekindle strained ties between the two.

The news of the unprecedented shooting of a 53-year-old woman at Diamond Mountain resort emerged just hours after the South’s new President Lee Myung-bak delivered a nationwide address calling for restored contacts between the two Koreas.

South Korea is to suspend future Diamond Mountain tours until an investigation is completed.