Some two dozen lawmakers from the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) are making plans to visit North Korea next month.

The opposition lawmakers seek to visit the North by overland route from July 2nd to the 4th.

The lawmakers asked the Unification Ministry for an approval for their planned visit.

They are hoping for a meeting with their North Korean counterparts, officials from the Supreme People's Assembly. Their itinerary has yet to be finalized, but they also are planning to make a stop in the scenic resort of Mount Geumgang or the Gaesong Industrial Park.

If the plan is realized, it would mark the first time for such a large group of South Korean legislators to visit North Korea at once.

Observers say that the planned visit is supposedly aimed at changing the GNP's traditional image as a bastion of conservatism facing down the communist North.