SEOUL - Conflicts deepened between the two Koreas Friday over ill-fated cross-border tour programs, as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) announced earlier in the day it will confiscate Republic of Korea (ROK) properties inside a resort at Mount Kumgang.

In a statement carried out by the official Korea Central News Agency, Pyongyang said it will either take over the ownership of the frozen assets or hand them over to a new business partner, the strongest measure in a recent series of steps toward nullifying all inter-Korean tourism deals.

Tours to a scenic mountain and a historic border town, flourished under a decade of liberal rule of former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun, have been a long-standing but fragile symbol of peace on the Korean Peninsula, still divided in half following a civil war half a decade ago.