A delegation from South Korea's progressive Democratic Labor Party (DLP) is returning home from North Korea Saturday.

The 13-member delegation is scheduled to come back to South Korea via China, wrapping up their controversial five-day trip to the communist state.

The trip was the focus of intense media attention, as it was made after a DLP secretary-general and a former party member were arrested on pro-North Korea espionage charges.

Both the DLP and North Korea denied the allegations.

Their trip sparked criticism, since it included a visit to the late North Korean leader, Kim Il-sung's birthplace.

The DLP delegation met with the North's second-in-charge Kim Yong-nam and top officials from the Social Democratic Party to convey South Korea's concerns.