A South Korean Buddhist sect will send officials to North Korea this week to discuss a joint religious ceremony and flood relief aid, Seoul's Unification Ministry said Thursday.
The ministry handling North Korean issues said it "approved the North Korean trip by five officials of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism to discuss holding a joint North-South Buddhist ceremony marking the fifth anniversary of the completion of Singye Temple."
The Buddhist priests and officials will travel to Kaesong on Friday and officials from the North's alliance of Buddhist sects will escort them during the one-day discussion that will also draw on the South sect's plan to grant 200 tons of flour in relief aid, the ministry said.
The North Korean temple was completed following major joint South-North restoration works in 2007 after being destroyed during the 1950-53 Korean War.
The ministry also said they permitted a North Korean visit on Friday by the Korea NGO Council for Cooperation with North Korea, an association of more than 50 private groups, aimed at delivering 500 tons of flour in relief aid. (Yonhap)