South Korea's Unification Ministry said Friday that it has approved technicians of the South Korean operator of the long-suspended inter-Korean tourism project to visit Mount Kumgang next week for safety checks there in preparations for the upcoming rainy season.

Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Eui-do told a routine press briefing that it has allowed Hyundai Asan's seven technicians to visit Mount Kumgang, just above the inter-Korean land border, for two days from Monday, saying they will inspect the resort facilities there.

It was approved as the facilities required an emergency inspection ahead of heavy rains and typhoons during the summer season, Kim said, adding that the technicians will not hold a separate meeting with their counterparts from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) during the visit.

Tours to Mount Kumgang, launched in 1998 and run by Hyundai Asan, has been suspended since late 2008 when a South Korean female tourist was shot dead by a DPRK soldier after apparently venturing into an off-limit area.

The symbolic inter-Korean tourism project brought some 2 million South Koreans annually to the scenic mountain before it was put on hold.

Seoul has long refused to resume operations of the mountain resort, citing an absence of a proper investigation into the shooting and lack of safety guarantees, but Pyongyang said it has done enough.

The ministry in charge of the inter-Korean relations also approved 30 South Korean Buddhist leaders to cross into Mount Kumgang on Sunday for the joint inter-Korean religious event.

The spokesman said South Korea has continued to approve the non- political inter-Korean exchanges in social and cultural sectors.