PAJU/SEOUL -- A North Korean art troupe will arrive by ferry in South Korea this week, on a trip that will mark the first by a North Korean vessel in years, Seoul officials said Monday.

The North Korean ship, Mangyongbong-92, is scheduled to arrive at the country's Mukho port in the eastern city of Donghae at 5 p.m. Tuesday, the officials from the unification ministry said.

The remarks came hours after the communist state proposed using the 9,700-ton ship to transport its 140-member art troupe, which is scheduled to stage art performances on Thursday and Sunday to commemorate the North's participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.

A 23-member advance team from the North Korean art troupe arrived here earlier in the day to prepare for the planned performances, which will be held in Seoul and Gangneung, located 230 kilometers east of the South Korean capital.

Seoul earlier noted a North Korean ship making a port call in the South may violate its own sanctions on the North, which were enacted on May 24, 2010.

"The government has decided to make an exception for the Magyongbong-92 in a move to support the country's successful hosting of the PyeongChang Olympics," a unification ministry official said.

Ministry officials said the ferry will also be used as accommodations for the North Korean art troupe during its stay here.

The Mangyongbong-92 is a cargo-passenger ferry and is named after a hill in Pyongyang, near the birthplace of late founder Kim Il-sung.

It transported the North's cheering squad for the 2002 Asian Games in Busan, the South's southern port city. It was also used to accommodate the cheerleaders.

The vessel previously ran between Japan's Niigata prefecture and North Korea's eastern port city of Wonsan as the main transport delivering cargo and money to North Koreans residing in Japan. But Tokyo banned the entry of the ferry in 2006 following a missile launch by the North.

In addition to the South's unilateral sanctions, Pyongyang also faces a series of U.N. Security Council sanctions, as well as those unilaterally imposed by the United States and Japan. Seoul officials earlier said the Mangyongbong-92 did not appear to be a ship blacklisted by the UNSC.

"When it comes to U.N. sanctions, we will closely consult with the international community including the US in order not to make the move violate sanctions," a ministry official said.

Meanwhile, the 23-member advance team of North Korea's art troupe began its preparations for the planned performances.

Hyon Song-wol, the head of the North's all-female Moranbong Band, visited the South last month to check venues for Olympic performances.

The exact details of the concerts have not been made public, but the North informed the South last week that many South Korean songs will be included in the programs.

The team led by Kim Sun-ho, vice administrative head of the art troupe, brought musical instruments and other equipment to the South, according to a pool report.

"We will make full preparations for the planned performances," Kim said at an inter-Korean checkpoint in Paju, just south of the border.

"You'll see what we've prepared when the performances are held," he said, when reporters asked which South Korean songs will be included.

The Koreas have been engaged in a flurry of sports diplomacy since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un extended a rare olive branch to Seoul in his New Year's Day message after a year of tensions sparked by the North's nuclear and missile programs. (Yonhap)