Tourism has helped break down decades of mistrust

But the South Korean company which runs the tours, Hyundai Asan, scaled back the project this year because it was losing hundreds of millions of dollars. The company had paid $12m a month to the North in return for exclusive rights to operate the project but it was forced to cut this back because of mounting losses and a drop in tourist numbers.

Opening a land route across the two countries' heavily fortified frontier, saving time and money, is expected to significantly boost the tourism venture. South Korean officials hope that an existing unpaved road linking the two countries could be opened by this year, with a wider expressway built next year.

The cruise tours to Mount Kumgang were seen as a breakthrough in relations between the two Koreas, and the project has been a key source of income for the impoverished North.

South Korean officials are hoping the North will also deliver on an earlier promise to designate the mountain area as a special tourist zone.

That would pave the way for investors to build facilities such as golf courses, ski resorts and other entertainment facilities which could help boost tourism in the communist country.