North Korea notified South Korea on Saturday that it will send its officials on Sunday to check out the venues for its art troupe's performances around the Olympic Games next month. 

South Korea's Unification Ministry said that the North sent a notice to that effect at 6:40 p.m. Saturday. The ministry said it will reply after reviewing the North's proposal. 

The notice came hours after Seoul demanded Pyongyang explain the abrupt canceling of a visit by the North Korean inspection team on Friday.

A seven-member advance team led by Hyon Song-wol, head of the North's Samjiyon Orchestra, was scheduled to cross the border on Saturday to check out the concert venues in the South. 

However, the North notified the South late Friday that it will suspend the trip, without giving clear reasons. 

During working-level inter-Korean talks on Monday, North Korea had agreed to send a 140-member art troupe, including an orchestra, singers and dancers, to the South to stage concerts in Seoul and in the PyeongChang-Gangnueng region, where the Winter Games will be held.