N. Korea seizes S. Korean assets:

At joint resort

KOREA: North Korea seized all South Korean-owned assets in a jointly-run resort in the North on Monday and ordered all South Koreans to leave, state media said, in a move that will raise already simmering tensions.

Mount Kumgang had been closed since a North Korean soldier shot a South Korean tourist there in 2008, and Pyongyang said time had run out to resolve the dispute.

"All assets owned by South Korean companies in Mount Kumgang resort are banned from being taken out as of August 21," the official Korean Central News Agency said.

It ordered all South Koreans to leave the resort "within 72 hours", blaming Seoul for the stalled tourism project.

"We consider that the South has completely given up all rights on properties owned by South Korean companies. AFP