South Korea has approved plans for religious leaders to make a rare visit to North Korea aimed at promoting peace on the divided peninsula.

The heads of South Korea's seven largest religious groups, all members of the Korean Conference of Religion for Peace, will travel to Pyongyang by way of China on Wednesday for a four-day visit.

The 24 representatives and officials of the group are expected to hold talks and joint prayer meetings with their North Korean counterparts, in hopes of easing tensions between the two countries. The delegation includes Roman Catholics, Protestants and Buddhists.

Earlier this month, Seoul allowed leading Buddhist monks to attend a religious ceremony in the North to commemorate the 1,000th anniversary of a collection of engraved Buddhist scripture considered sacred in both countries.