South Korean officials say the head of the country's ruling party is planning a diplomatic visit to North Korea.

An official with the Grand National Party told reporters that Hong Joon-pyo will visit a joint industrial complex in Kaesong on Friday. Hong said earlier this month that he would be willing to visit the complex in a bid to improve relations between Seoul and Pyongyang.

The two Koreas are slowly attempting to improve ties that turned icy after the North's shelling of a South Korea island last November, and the sinking of a South Korean warship that Seoul blamed on Pyongyang.

Nuclear negotiators for the two countries held talks last week in Beijing, marking their second meeting in two months. The South has also begun allowing a small number of cultural and religious visits to the North.