Seoul OKs Buddhists' visit to North Korean temple

South Korea approved a visit by a group of Buddhists to North Korea this week so they can hold a religious ceremony at a temple on Mount Kumgang, an official said Friday. Ministry of Unification spokeswoman Park Soo-jin told reporters that a 22-member group headed by Reverend Jahong of the Jogye Order will cross into North Korea through the east coast corridor Saturday morning. She said the group will head to Singye Temple and hold a joint ceremony with religious representatives from the North, before returning to the South at 5 p.m. "The ceremony has been held annually and Seoul permitted the visit because the event has nothing to do with politics or military affairs," the official said. The visit is to mark the sixth anniversary of the ancient temple's renovation that was carried out with aid from the South Korean religious order. Jogye is the largest Buddhist sect in South Korea. Ordinary South Koreans have been barred from visiting the temple and Mount Kumgang as a whole, after the shooting death of a tourist by a North Korean guard in July 2008. The spokeswoman, meanwhile, called on the North to refrain from verbally attacking South Korea's government and President Park Geun-hye. "The North must adhere to the principle of mutual respect, maintain its dignity in the comments made and refrain from interfering in domestic affairs," she said. The remarks come as the North has issued a stream of statements criticizing the South and its chief executive for fueling tensions on the Korean Peninsula.