The Unification Ministry is considering permitting a visit to North Korea by religious officials seeking to deliver aid. It would be the first such visit since South Korea banned cross-border travel in late May following the North's sinking of South Korea’s “Cheonan” warship in March.

A government source says a religious group recently applied for a visit to the North to deliver 300 tons of flour for needy North Korean children.

The ministry will most likely approve the aid delivery, given that it’s for the socially vulnerable. The ministry will, however, request that the number of religious officials be scaled down from the planned 30 to about five or six.

If approved, it will be the first visit by a South Korean delegation to an area of North Korea not located in the inter-Korean Gaeseong Industrial Complex or the Mount Geumgang resort since the ban was placed in late May.