Former US president Jimmy Carter and three further former heads of state and government are to travel as private persons to North and South Korea to ease tensions on the peninsula, it was announced Sunday, dpa reported.
The group calling itself The Elders includes former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, Norway's former premier Gro Brundtland and former Irish president Mary Robinson.
Their tour is to begin Sunday in Beijing, and will continue on to North Korea on Tuesday and South Korea on Thursday.
"At a time when official dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea appears to be at a standstill, we aim to see how we may be of assistance in reducing tensions and help the parties address key issues including denuclearization," the 86-year-old Carter, recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, said.
The delegation also said they would discuss measures to overcome food shortages in North Korea.
It remains unclear whom the delegation would met in North Korea.Tensions between North and South Korea have been high since North Korea's shelling of South Korean-controlled Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea in November, which killed four people.