The launch and operation of a new family reunion center at North Korea’s Mount Geumgang resort is being delayed due to strained inter-Korean relations.

The family reunion center was completed Saturday after construction began in August 2005.

The two Koreas originally planned to hold a ceremony to celebrate its completion before opening the center around the end of August.

However, the two sides have not even set a date for the ceremony as inter-Korean relations have gone sour due to the killing of a South Korean tourist at the resort last Friday.

The 12-story building with about 206 rooms was planned under an agreement made at an inter-Korean Red Cross meeting in 2002 in hopes of setting up a permanent base for reunions.