Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung will visit Mount Geumgang next week for the first time since he took office last December.

The Unification Ministry said Lee would also visit homes in the North Korean village of Onjeong-ri, where the South Korean government funded furnace improvements.

It is highly unusual for high-ranking South Korean officials to visit civilian homes in the North.

The minister will also tour the construction site of a permanent meeting house for separated families, as well as a drinking water plant in the Mount Geumgang resort and Onjeong-ri People’s Hospital, which received medical supplies from the South.

Although there is no scheduled meeting with high-ranking North Korean officials, Lee is likely to meet officials in charge of the North Korean resort.