Representatives from the South's Lay Buddhist Association of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism will make the trip from Tuesday to the North's border city of Kaesong and meet their North Korean counterparts to discuss the project, officials at Seoul's unification ministry said.
"The approval was made because the project is a joint effort by the South and North to return our cultural properties seized during the Japanese colonial rule," a ministry official said on the condition of anonymity.
The ministry is in charge of South Korea's policies on North Korea. Inter-Korean relations remain tense following the North's two military attacks on the South last year, but Seoul has signaled a "flexible" approach to Pyongyang in recent months by expanding civilian contacts between the two sides.
A group of South Korean historians are now working on a joint survey in progress with North Koreans in Kaesong for another project to excavate an ancient Korean royal palace in its territory.
