Hyundai Asan says it will reduce its staff to less than 100 at North Korea’s Mount Geumgang resort by Thursday as Pyongyang requested.

The tour operator will leave some 40 staff members at the North Korean border city of Gaeseong and will withdraw the rest as soon as possible.

The operator of the tour programs to Geumgang and Gaeseong will pull out a total of 110 staff members from the North, leaving only 99, including 51 South Koreans and 48 ethnic Koreans with Chinese nationality.

Due to the drastic staff cut, the company said it will be difficult to manage Geumgang's accommodations and golf courses.