South Korean officials and businessmen will visit North Korea to study the feasibility of building joint shipbuilding zones.

The Commerce Ministry said Friday that the delegation will visit the western port of Nampo and the eastern port of Wonsan from Saturday to Wednesday.

A ministry official said the 25-member team comprises government officials and representatives of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, Samsung Heavy Industries and other local shipyards.

The official added that the delegation will be led by Choi Pyeong-rak, who heads the ministry's office in charge of key manufacturing industries.

The government and industry are looking into building a ship repair center in Nampo and a ship block manufacturing plant in Anbyeon, south of the east coast port of Wonsan. The inter-Korean projects were initially agreed on at last month's South-North summit in Pyongyang.