A group of 50 South Koreans have left for North Korea to visit a national cemetery in Pyongyang, North Korea that was previously off-limits to South Koreans.

The group includes 26 descendants of former liberation fighters who helped found Korea's provisional government in Shanghai during Japan's colonial rule of Korea in the first half of the 20th century.

The Unification Ministry said that the delegation will fly to Pyongyang via Shenyang in northeastern China, and return on Wednesday.

A high-ranking official in the ministry said that the government approved the visit since it respects the families' genuine wishes to visit their ancestors' graves and to preserve the spirit of national independence.

This is the first government-approved visit by South Koreans to a national cemetery in North Korea.