According to a tally released by the Korea Tourism Corporation, the number of South Korean tourists travelling to the scenic North Korean resort of Mr. Keumgang in October 2003 recorded the largest monthly figure in three years.

The corporation said a total of 18,286 South Korean tourists visited the mountain last month alone, the largest such number on record since October of 2000.

Hyundai Asan Company, the main operator of the inter-Korean tourism program, said that outbound reservations for November for Mt. Keumgang have already sold out, and that reservations for December, traditionally a slow month for travel to the North, have already tallied nearly 10,000.

Hyundai officials attributed the noticeable increase to more affordable tour prices, along with the opening of an inter-Korean land route and the tour's growing popularity among South Korean college students.

A total of over 570,000 South Koreans have visited the mountain since the tourist program began in November, 1998.