South Korea has permitted a civic group to bring in bottled water produced in North Korea, officials said Wednesday, for the first time since Seoul imposed sanctions banning inter-Korean exchanges in 2010.

The unification ministry said that the approval was made because they are supposed to be used for religious events, not for sale.

"The government approved it on the judgment that they will be used for the religious purposes. The move came as Seoul seeks to spur inter-Korean civilian exchanges and this does not hamper U.N. sanctions on North Korea," Baik Tae-hyun, ministry spokesman, told a regular press briefing.

"The government will consider measures if the bottled water is used into other purposes," he added.

In May, the government announced its plan to encourage civilian exchanges between the two Koreas to an extent that the move will not compromise the international sanctions regime. But the North has rejected Seoul's offer, citing its support of U.N. sanctions.

An ethnic Korean businessman living in China bought bottles of the North Korean mineral water and donated them to the group, the ministry said. It plans to use them for religious rites to mark the lunar national foundation day later this month.

The two types of mineral water -- 46,000 bottles of Mount Kumgang Spring Water and 20 bottles of Kangso Mineral Water -- arrived in the South last month. They are awaiting customs clearance at a port in Incheon, west of Seoul.

It is rare for Seoul to allow North Korean products to make their way to the South since it slapped sanctions on the North on May 24, 2010. The unilateral sanctions banning inter-Korean exchanges were designed to punish North Korea for the torpedoing of a South Korean warship in March 2010.

The government dismissed the view that its latest approval indicates Seoul's softening of sanctions.

"The move should not be linked to Seoul's possible easing of the May 24 sanctions," Baik said

A government official said that even after the imposition of the 2010 sanctions, the government previously approved civilians' moves to bring in North Korean items such as books when their use was not for commercial purposes.

Mount Kumgang Spring Water was first brought to the South in the mid-1990s and was imported to South Korea after 2000 when the two Koreas set up a joint venture for mass production until shipments were halted due to Seoul's sanctions. (Yonhap)