Nine civic group members from Seoul have traveled to North Korea to deliver food to impoverished children.

The nine, all of whom are members of a religious group, departed for the North on Friday morning with 300 tons of flour loaded on three trucks.

The flour, delivered to the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, will be distributed to kindergartens and child care centers in six North Korean areas, including Gaeseong and Jangpung County in North Hwanghae Province.

This is the second humanitarian visit to the North allowed by the South since Seoul banned cross-border trips in late May in response to North Korea's sinking of a South Korean warship. Visits to the North are banned except for by officials related to the Gaeseong complex and the Mount Geumgang resort.

Earlier this month, a group of five civic members visited the North to deliver antimalarial aid.