A group of Korean Americans will reunite with their long-lost kin in North Korea on Wednesday after some five decades of separation.

The 17-member group will arrive in Pyongyang via Shenyang, China on Wednesday afternoon for a seven-day visit.

According to Shin Nam-ho, leader of the group and head of the Los Angeles branch of South Korea's National Unification Advisory Council, the reunion reflects Pyongyang’s hope to interact with the Korean community in the United States.

He said he hopes the reunion will lead to active and long-term exchanges between Pyongyang and the Korean community in the U.S.

The upcoming reunion marks the first time for ethnic Koreans living abroad to be allowed into the North to see their relatives.

North and South Korea have been holding temporary family reunions since 1985.