An advance team of Seoul officials and concert experts will visit Pyongyang Thursday, ahead of South Korean artists' planned performances early next month.

The six-member group includes presidential aide Tak Hyun-min, a Unification Ministry official as well as professional concert planners who will head to the North Korean capital from Beijing.

During the three day trip, the team is set to visit East Pyongyang Grand Theater and Ryugyong Jong Ju Yong Gymnasium to check the lighting, stage, and sound equipment.

They will stay at Koryo Hotel in Pyongyang which is frequented by most foreign travelers to the North.

Meanwhile, Seoul is known to have consulted with Washington on the group's flight to Pyongyang via Air Koryo which is under U.S. sanctions. 

The government is seeking to have the 160-member cultural troupe travel to Pyongyang on a chartered plane next Saturday for a three-day trip, during which they will stage two concerts.

The government is said to be consulting with Washington on making the planned visit via the chartered flight an exception from the U.S. sanctions. 

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