North Korea has said it will begin expelling South Korean workers from a mountain resort from Sunday.
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The North said it would eject all "unnecessary" South Korean workers and blamed the South for worsening ties.
More than 260 southerners work on Mount Kumgang, once regarded as a symbol of reconciliation betweeen the two sides.
"The measure of expelling personnel of the South side unnecessary in the tourist area of Mount Kumgang shall take effect from August 10," a military official was quoted as saying by the North's official news agency, KCNA.
Worsening ties
South Korean housewife Park Wang-ja, 53, was killed on 11 July on a beach near the resort.
North Korea said Mrs Park had strayed deep inside a restricted military zone, failed to heed warnings, and was shot while running away.
South Korea says forensic tests suggest she was shot while standing still or walking slowly, and photos of the beach area where she died show that it was not clearly defined as being out of bounds.
The North has demanded an apology over the incident while the South has been angered by its refusal to co-operate in an investigation.
North Korea has refused to allow investigators from the South to visit the site and dismissed calls for a joint inquiry into the shooting.
Relations between the two sides have worsened since South Korea's recently-elected President Lee Myung-bak took office with a promise to toughen the country's stance towards Pyongyang. The North then severed all government-level ties with Seoul.
South Korea has sought international backing to get the North to accept an investigation into the incident.
During a visit to Seoul earlier this week US President George W Bush urged the North to engage in dialogue to resolve the case.
The Mount Kumgang resort has attracted more than one million South Korean visitors since 1998.
Access to the special tourism zone is tightly controlled, and its border heavily policed.
(BBC)
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