The Unification Ministry is expected to approve plans by officials of South Korea's pan-religious group to visit North Korea next week to prepare for talks among the two Koreas' religious leaders, a government source said Friday.

   Officials from the Korean Conference of Religion for Peace (KCRP), an organization representing the South's seven largest religious groups, are likely to hold a meeting with their North Korean counterparts in the border city of Kaesong on Tuesday, the source said.

   The KCRP and the Korean Council of Religionists (KCR), an organization of the North's five religious groups, plan to discuss details for a meeting among the two Koreas' religious chiefs which may be held in Pyongyang next month.

   If realized, South and North Korea's religious leaders will meet for the first time since 2011 when a joint prayer meeting was held in the North.

   The move comes as the two Koreas reached a landmark deal on Aug. 25 to defuse military tension and spur civilian inter-Korean exchanges.

   But North Korea has been raising missile and nuclear threats ahead of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the ruling Workers' Party which falls on Oct. 10.

   Meanwhile, the ministry is also expected to approve an application by the country's two umbrella labor union groups to visit North Korea to discuss holding a football friendly, according to the source.

   The Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions originally sought to hold football games among workers of the two Koreas in May. But the government rejected their bid at that time, citing its political nature.

   If the ministry approves their move this time, representatives from the labor union groups will meet with their North Korean counterparts in Kaesong on Wednesday to set details for football games to be held in Pyongyang late next month.

    Workers of the two Koreas previously had friendly matches in 1999 and 2007. (Yonhap)