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SEOUL: South Korea has given leading Buddhist monks permission to visit North Korea, the first religious trip since ties turned icy over the sinking of a warship last year, officials said Friday.
A 37-member Buddhist delegation will make a five-day trip from Saturday, said the unification ministry in charge of cross-border relations.
The delegation led by Venerable Jaseung, the head of South Korea's largest Jogye Order, will hold a Buddhist service at a North Korean temple, it said.
“The trip has been approved ... because its purpose is purely related to religious activities,” the ministry, which must by law authorise all cross-border contacts, said in a statement.
The South has strictly restricted its people from travelling to the North since Seoul accused Pyongyang of torpedoing a warship in March 2010 with the loss of 46 lives.
The North denied involvement in the sinking but shelled a South Korean border island last November, killing four people including two civilians.
Friday's move came after Yu Woo-Ik was nominated as new unification minister this week as part of a cabinet reshuffle.
The former ambassador to China replaced Hyun In-Taek, seen as a hardliner.
Hyun was the key architect of President Lee Myung-Bak's North Korea policy linking major economic aid to progress on denuclearisation, a stance that enraged Pyongyang.
Yu said Wednesday he would try to be flexible in dealing with the communist country, signalling a push to improve relations after months of high tensions.
