Seoul: South Korea said on Tuesday it would keep pressing North Korea to cooperate in the investigation of the death of a South Korean tourist in the North and help resolve a slew of unanswered questions surrounding the case.

Relations between the Koreas, already strained since South Korea's conservative government took power in February, are at a new low after a soldier fatally shot a woman on Friday while she was on a trip to the North's Diamond Mountain resort.

North Korea has so far refused to allow South Korean officials to visit the area of the shooting, saying the soldier shot the woman after she was caught wandering in a restricted military area.


South Korean Unification Ministry official Kim Ho-nyeon said the South Korean government planned to send an official message calling for the North's cooperation later on Tuesday through a liaison office in the border village of Panmunjom.

Kim also raised other questions, such as why a witness claimed to hear gunfire about 30 minutes after the North said the shooting occurred.

The North also had a security camera at the fence, according to photos in South Korean media, meaning Pyongyang could have video of the shooting.