North Korea will send a 17-member state delegation to Seoul for Liberation Day celebrations being held from Sunday to Wednesday.

Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hong-jae said Friday that vice chair Kim Ki-nam of the North's Committee for Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland will head the delegation.

The South's delegation comprises 22 officials including Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, Vice Finance Minister Bahk Byong-won and Cultural Heritage Administration chief Yoo Hong-joon.

State and civic delegations from Pyongyang will arrive at Incheon International Airport aboard North Korea’s Air Koryo flight. With the North's performance troupe excluded, the number of its total delegates fell to 165, from the previously expected 200.