Two-way traffic across the inter-Korean border has increased sharply this year.

The Unification Ministry in Seoul says that about 70-thousand-200 people crossed in the year's first half, up 33-point-six percent from the same period last year.

Of the 70 thousand or so travelers, 500 were visitors to the South. But South Korean tourists to North Korea's Mount Geumgang resort fell eleven-point-seven percent year-on-year to 113-thousand-800.

An official at the inter-Korean immigration office attributed the drop in Geumgang tourists to the lingering effect of Pyongyang's missile test launches and nuclear test last year.