A delegation of South Korean athletes and government officials left for Pyongyang Tuesday morning to participate in inter-Korean basketball matches. 

Led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, the 101-member delegation left Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, at around 10 a.m. aboard two military planes. They will fly to the North Korean capital via a direct air route over the Yellow Sea. 

The delegation consists of 50 basketball players, 20 government officials and staff members, 30 media personnel and one announcer.  

Upon his departure, the unification minister told reporters that he is on his way to watch inter-Korean basketball matches, which are being held for the first time in 15 years.

Cho hoped that the basketball matches will serve as an occasion to further boost peace on the Korean Peninsula, noting that the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games laid the foundation for the goal. 

The two Koreas will play four basketball matches in Pyongyang on Wednesday and Thursday. The South Korean delegation will return home on Friday.

[Photo : YONHAP News]