The 15-member delegation left Wednesday for Shenyang, China, and will take a flight bound for Pyongyang, according to the officials. They are scheduled to stay in Pyongyang until Saturday.

This marks the first time that a civic group has been permitted to visit the North since the Moon Jae-in government was inaugurated in May 2017.

Buoyed by the mood of rapprochement following their leaders' meetings in April and May, the two Koreas had pushed to hold joint events to mark the 18th anniversary of the first summit but decided not to have them this year due in part to time restraints.

Such joint events to mark the anniversary were last held in 2008 at Mount Kumgang on North Korea's east coast. (Yonhap)