After a year of renovation work, a hotel in Mount Geumgang in North Korea reopened Friday.

More than one thousand South Korean tourists, businesspeople and Grand National Party lawmakers attended a ceremony celebrating the reopening of the Mount Geumgang Hotel.

Hyundai Asan Chairman Kim Woon-kyu said the hotel will serve as a major tourist accommodation at the scenic mountain resort and a venue for future inter-Korean meetings.

Kim also said once the inter-Korean roads and railways are connected by the end of the year, the tourism business will thrive even more.

North Korea built the Mount Geumgang Hotel in 1981 for ethnic Koreans in Japan and tourists from Eastern Europe, but it has been mainly used for South Korean visitors since the launch of the inter-Korean tourist program. It has also been used as a venue for inter-Korean family reunions.

The 219-room luxury hotel boasts a number of upscale facilities, including restaurants, a sky lounge overlooking Mount Geumgang, a cocktail bar and a singing room.