The Japanese government plans to allow five civilians to visit North Korea to recover the remains of Japanese people who died there during World War Two.

Japanese government sources said Thursday that the civilians are members of a civic group, and they will travel throughout North Korea for ten days from Tuesday including a stop in Pyongyang.

The civic group plans to send a delegation of 50 people to the North this fall to recover more Japanese people's remains and visit burial grounds if Japan and North Korean government officials make headway in talks in Beijing on Wednesday. The upcoming talks would mark the first time in four years for the two countries to engage in government dialogue.

By allowing the group's members to visit North Korea, Tokyo is hoping for a breakthrough in upcoming talks in Beijing over the issue of Japanese abductees in the communist state.