The rare crossing of the DMZ is to take place Sunday.

The group of 30 women from 15 countries will not go through the symbolic truce village of Panmunjom, where the Korean War armistice was signed in 1953, because officials in South Korea and the United Nations Command responsible for security in the area said they could not guarantee the group's safety. Instead, the women will take a route that links the two Koreas to the Kaesong industrial complex, a joint North-South business venture near the border.

Despite the last-minute change, members of the group said they feel the crossing in itself is a breakthrough.

"We bought one-way tickets for Pyongyang not even knowing whether we would need to fly back to Beijing," said Leymah Gbowee, a Nobel laureate from Liberia. "Not only have we received the blessing for our historic crossing, we've gotten both Korean governments to communicate. That is a success."