South Korea says all its workers have left a mountain resort jointly operated with North Korea, one day after the North ordered them out and seized all South Korean assets at the facility.

Operators of the Mount Kumgang resort said the 14 workers and two Chinese colleagues crossed into the South early Tuesday.

Pyongyang announced the seizure of all properties owned by South Korean companies at the resort on Monday, citing Seoul's failure to meet a deadline last week to resolve a dispute over the property.

Mount Kumgang was once a symbol of cooperation between the communist North and democratic South, which have been split since the 1950-53 civil war.

Seoul suspended tours to the resort after a South Korean tourist was fatally gunned down by a North Korean soldier after she strayed into a restricted military zone in 2008.

South Korea says it will not resume the tours until Pyongyang allows on on-site investigation of the shooting, a condition the North has refused.