South Korea said Monday it will try and deliver local businessmen's hopes to visit a now-shuttered inter-Korean industrial park to North Korea.

A group of 40 officials from local firms which had operated at Kaesong Industrial Complex just north of the border has asked the Seoul government to permit their visit to check their factories, after the North's propaganda outlets hinted that it partially restarted operation of the complex without consent.

"The government will weigh in on ways to deliver their intent to North Korea," Baik Tae-hyun, spokesman at Seoul's unification ministry, told a regular press briefing. "The ministry plans to consult with other government agencies to resolve the issue as soon as possible."

The previous government of ousted leader Park Geun-hye shut down the factory zone in February 2016 in response to North Korea's nuclear and missile tests.

Seoul needs Pyongyang's documents guaranteeing the safety of its nationals before it gives the green light to their visit.

But North Korea is seen unlikely to consent to their visit amid heightened tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

As inter-Korean communication channels are cut off, the ministry is widely expected to convey the local firms' move to the North through an announcement to the media.

Amid speculation over the complex's resumption, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon told lawmakers Friday that there are no specific signs it's been reopened, though some bus movement and lit street lamps have been spotted since March or April.

The government has said that North Korea should not resume operations at the complex without permission as the factories and machinery belong to South Korean firms.

The factory zone, launched in 2004, had accommodated 124 South Korean firms which employed more than 54,000 North Korean workers to produce labor-intensive goods such as clothes and utensils. (Yonhap)