South Korean forestry experts return home after visiting North Korea

A group of South Korean forestry experts returned home Friday after visiting a North Korean mountain on the east coast to check pine trees damaged apparently by a drought.

Eight officials from the state-run Korea Forest Research Institute and Hyundai Asan, a South Korean operator of an inter-Korean tour program, visited North Korea on Wednesday for three days to look into what has damaged pine trees on Mount Kumgang.

A government official earlier said that some pine trees on the mountain withered and turned yellow, adding that a recent drought that hit the North may be to blame.

A joint examination of the pine trees kicked off at the request of the North, which has been grappling with what it called its worst drought in 100 years.

Sitting on the east coast near the heavily fortified inter-Korean border, Mount Kumgang is famous for its scenic views, including impressive peaks and a thick pine tree forest.

Hyundai Asan kicked off a joint tour program at Mount Kumgang in 1998, a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation, attracting some 2 million South Korean visitors until it was put on hold.

Seoul suspended the tour program in 2008, after the shooting death of a South Korean female tourist by a North Korean solider at the resort.

Pyongyang has called for the resumption of the tour program, which once served as one of the few legitimate revenue sources for the cash-strapped country.

The Unification Ministry earlier said that Seoul's approval for the visit to the North was made out of the belief that Mount Kumgang is an asset that the two Koreas need to protect together.

But it made it clear that the probe has nothing to do with the possible resumption of the joint tour program.