Anchor: North Korea claims it rejected a South Korean request to visit resort facilities at Mount Geumgang, adding that the South's properties there will be demolished unless Seoul sends workers to do the job themselves. While admitting that it failed to properly update the public about the latest development, the Unification Ministry said the Geumgang issue should be resolved through dialogue. 
Our Bae Joo-yon has more. 

Report: North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) says Seoul has already been given an ultimatum regarding its tourist facilities at the North's Mount Geumgang.

KCNA said Friday that the final proposition was that the demolition work will be done by North Korean authorities if South Korea fails to get it done on its own.

It also noted that the South remains mum on the matter, despite Pyongyang's clear indication that Seoul has no role to play in future development of the mountain resort.

Embarrassed by the North's announcement, the Unification Ministry said that it was unable to update the public about the ongoing developments.

[Sound bite: Unification Ministry deputy spokesperson Kim Eun-han (Korean)] 
"The government will closely coordinate with the Geumgang tour operator and calmly deal with the latest development under its consistent position that the issue of Geumgang tours must be resolved through South-North dialogue."

The ministry also acknowledged that the North rejected its request to visit Mount Geumgang with officials from Hyundai Asan, the operator of the long-suspended tour program.

Located at scenic Mount Geumgang on North Korea's eastern coast just north of the inter-Korean border, the resort was until 2008 a popular tourist destination for South Koreans. 

Hyundai Asan operated the sole inter-Korean tour program until that year, when private tours were suspended after a South Korean tourist was shot dead after entering an off-limits military area adjacent to the resort. 

North Korea had been hopeful that the suspended Geumgang tours would resume following last September's inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang. 

But with staunch U.S. opposition to any economic projects with the North, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un told his officials last month that "unsightly" South Korean facilities at the resort should be removed entirely. 
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.