Seoul  - North Korea insisted Saturday that South Korea was responsible for the death of a South Korean woman tourist Friday who was shot by a North Korean soldier on the border between the two.

A North Korean statement rejected demands by Seoul that Pyongyang carry out its own inquiry into the death of 53-year-old Park Wang Ja, who according to South Korea unwittingly entered a restricted North Korean military area near a recreation park.

"The South Korean side should assume responsibility for the incident, apologise to North Korea and take measures to ensure that no such incident recurs," the statement said.

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak had earlier Saturday condemned the shooting and demanded a thorough inquiry by North Korea.

It was "incomprehensible" that a defenceless civilian should have been shot, he was quoted by the Yonhap news agency as saying after a series of urgent ministerial meetings in Seoul.

The woman was shot in the Kumgang - or "diamond" - mountains in the communist north of the divided Korean peninsula - a popular holiday destination for South Koreans.

The region has been accessible for South Koreans only since the 1990s. The Seoul Reunification Ministry said after the shooting that travel to the region had been suspended.

The tourism project close to the north-south border is operated jointly by the South Korean company Hyundai Asan and North Korea.

the South Korean Defence Ministry said Friday that according to North Korea, the tourist had ignored calls to stop and a warning shot before she was killed. She was hit by two shots in her chest and leg.

Her body has already been transferred to a hospital in South Korea. The shooting overshadowed a new offer by South Korea to revive reconciliation talks with North Korea.

A presidential office spokesman noted that President Lee had known of the shooting incident before he made his speech in the South Korean parliament making the offer to resume reconciliation talks.

In his speech, Lee urged North Korea to again take up reconciliation talks with Seoul in the wake of recent prOgress in nuclear talks with Pyongyang. (dpa)