A South Korean woman tourist in her 50s was shot and killed at a mountain resort in North Korea after she wandered into a military area, a South Korean government official said

The incident took place at the Mount Kumgang resort, just north of the border on the east coast. The resort is run by an affiliate of South Korea's Hyundai Group and has been visited by more than a million South Koreans.

South Korea will halt tourism to the resort from Saturday, Unification Ministry official Kim Ho-nyeon told a news conference.

"The government will form an investigation team," Kim said. "(The ministry) needs to confirm reports of whether the women climbed the fence."

The woman named Park, 53, entered a fenced-off North Korean military area in an incident that took place before dawn on Friday and was then shot, Kim said.

The incident is likely the first case of a South Korean tourist being killed in the North.

"We expect the North to take appropriate actions, as this is a regrettable incident," Kim said.

The first South Korean tourists visited Kumgang in November 1998. The fenced-off resort has hotels, stores, a golf course and a spa staffed by North Koreans.

There is also a heavy North Korean military presence in the area, which has been a key naval zone for the reclusive state.