North Korea has approved for the first time the hoisting of South Korea’s national flag and playing of its anthem on the communist country’s soil, the Unification Ministry said Friday.

The move comes as the North invited South Korean weightlifters to attend the 2013 Asian Cup and Interclub Weightlifting Championship to be held in the communist country.

If South Korean athletes win gold medals in the competition, South Korea’s national flag, the Taegeukgi, will be raised and its national anthem will be performed in North Korea for the first time.

“Upon the (South) Korean Weightlifting Federation’s request, Pyongyang expressed its intention to allow the hoisting of our national flag and playing of our national anthem, along with a pledge to guarantee the safety of the squad via the Asia Weightlifting Federation,” a ministry official said.

The ministry said it approved the cross-border trip by the 41-member team, made up of 22 South Korean weightlifters from seven local clubs and officials, who plans to visit Pyongyang next week to attend the international competition.

The two Koreas restored a cross-border military hotline on the west coast on the day to coordinate travel between the two sides as they work toward reopening a shuttered joint industrial park. (Yonhap News)