North Korea appears to have almost completed demolishing a reunion facility that South Korea's government built for separated families inside the North’s Mount Geumgang tourist area.

According to Planet Labs imagery that NK News, a media outlet specializing in North Korea, revealed on Wednesday, the east tower of the Inter-Korean Family Reunions Center was dismantled in October, followed by the west tower in the last two months.

The report said that the only part of the 12-story center that remains standing is an elevator shaft located between the demolished towers, as of Sunday.

Ground broke for the reunion center on August 31, 2005 in line with an agreement reached at Red Cross talks between the two Koreas in November 2003, with 55 billion won injected into its construction. That's around 37 million U.S. dollars. 

Construction was completed in July 2008 and since then the center hosted five rounds of family reunions. 

Demolition of various structures within the Mount Geumgang resort began after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un instructed the removal of South Korean facilities in the mountain resort in October 2019.

Signs of the reunion center being taken apart was first detected at the end of last year. 

NK News said that the dismantlement appears "to be not only efforts to recycle high-quality building materials, but also a symbolic move to show Pyongyang is following through with its vow to completely cut ties with South Korea."