Seoul - A South Korean tourist was shot and killed Friday by a North Korean soldier to the communist country, officials in Seoul said.

The 50-year-old woman had probably entered a restricted military area, the South Korean defence ministry said, adding that no further details of the incident were known at the time.

The tourist's body has already been transferred to South Korea. The victim had travelled to the Kumgang mountains on the east cost of North Korea, a region that has been accessible for South Koreans only since the 1990s. (dpa)