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Its once perfectly manicured golfing greens have grown unkempt and dust gathers on the chandeliers hanging in the opulent - but empty - dining rooms of its many hotels.

The luxury Mount Kumgang resort, which lies just within North Korean territory, was once a thriving destination for families from the South and was seen as a symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.

But it has been rendered a ghost town since tourism from the South shut down in 2008, following the shooting of a South Korean tourist by North Korean guards.

Now it is hoped the resort will flourish once again as North Korea has announced it will open up the extravagant mountain resort to visitors from the South, offering family members split up by the Korean war a chance to be reunited for the first time in three years.
North Korean hotel staff members walk through a hall under tall chandeliers at the exclusive Mount Kumgang hotel. Once, South Korean tourism to the resort was worth $20million a year