The South Korean operator of tour programs to Gaeseong is trying to confirm whether North Korea’s reported decision to halt the tours is factual.

The North told Seoul Monday that it will ban South Korean people from touring the North Korean city starting December first.

An official at Hyundai Asan said his company will devise countermeasures after the Unification Ministry gives detailed information about the North's decision Monday afternoon.

The halt of Gaeseong tours will deal another serious blow to the South Korean firm, which had to scrap its tours to North Korea’s Mount Geumgang in July after a South Korean tourist was killed by a North Korean soldier at the mountain resort.