An advance team of a North Korean orchestra crossed over to South Korea on Sunday to check the conditions of venues where the ensemble will perform during the Winter Olympics next month.

Hyon Song Wol, the head of the Samjiyon Orchestra, is leading delegation, which is the first to visit the South in connection with the Pyeongchang games.

After arriving in Seoul by chartered bus in the morning, the seven-member team boarded a high-speed train for Gangwon province, where the Olympics will be held from Feb. 9-25.

In Gangnueng, a city 240 kilometers east of Seoul, the delegation inspected the Gangneung Arts Center and also toured Olympic venues.

The delegation will reportedly stay overnight in Gangneung and return to Seoul on Monday. In addition to Gangneung, the orchestra, together with singers and dancers, is slated to perform in the capital Seoul.

Hyon, better known as the leader of the North's all-female Moranbong Band, smiled but made no comment to reporters at Seoul Station.

At working-level talks on Jan. 15, the Koreas agreed on the North sending the orchestra as well as singers and dancers for concerts in Seoul and Gangneung on the east coast.

At the talks, the North Korean side said that the program will likely consist of "folk songs and masterpieces that fit the theme of unification and are well known to both South and North Koreans."

North Korea is also sending a 230-person cheering squad to the games.