North Korea says it issued ultimatum to South over resort

North Korea on Friday said it issued an ultimatum to South Korea that it will tear down South Korean-made hotels and other facilities at the North's Diamond Mountain resort if the South continues to ignore its demands to come and clear them out.

The North Korean statement came weeks after leader Kim Jong Un visited the site and ordered the demolishment of South Korean properties he described as "shabby" and "unpleasant-looking" while vowing that the North would redevelop the site on its own.

For months, North Korea has expressed frustration over the South's unwillingness to defy US-led international sanctions against the North and resume South Korean tours at the site.

The North later formally demanded the South Koreans come to Diamond Mountain at an agreed-upon date to clear out their facilities and proposed an exchange of documents to work out details.

South Korean tours to Diamond Mountain were a major symbol of cooperation between the Koreas and a valuable cash source for the North's broken economy before the South suspended them in 2008 after a North Korean guard fatally shot a South Korean tourist.

South Korea has said it will prioritize protecting its property rights over the facilities and seek "creative solutions" to the problem based on political considerations and inter-Korean dialogue. But the North has so far rejected South Korean calls for face-to-face discussions or sending a delegation of government officials and businesspeople to inspect the site.

In the new statement, North Korea ridiculed the South over "begging us to let them stay even at a corner of the mountain" and participate in future tourism programs after halting the joint tours for more than a decade "in fear of the US."