Tours to North Korea’s border city of Gaeseong will be suspended starting Friday following a strain in inter-Korean ties.

Hyundai Asan, the operator of the tour program, said Friday that the 210 South Koreans who entered the border city earlier in the morning for tours will return to the South around 5 p.m., after which all tour operations will be suspended.

The tours, which had been operating six days a week, had drawn more than 100-thousand customers since launching on December fifth of last year.

Hyundai Asan said that once Friday's tour group returns to the South, the company will pull out its guides, bus drivers and three out of every four workers stationed at Gaeseong.

The company, however, plans to leave various operations in place in the event the tours resume following improved South-North ties.