朝鲜和韩国举行了近两年来的首次高层会谈，双方都表示愿意改善长期以来的紧张关系。
这次副部长级会谈于星期五在开城工业园区举行。开城工业园区位于朝鲜半岛非军事区的北方一侧。
韩国统一部副部长黃富起和朝鲜和平统一委员会书记局副局长田钟秀在会谈开始时握手，显示了乐观的态度。
这次会谈没有正式议事日程，外界也不期待会谈将取得重大突破，不过据信双方都有各自明确的目的。
预计平壤将敦促首尔恢复韩国人对朝鲜旅游胜地金刚山的观光活动。2008年一名韩国人在金刚山被杀后，首尔取消了前往该地区的观光。
首尔希望平壤同意更经常地安排韩战离散家庭团聚活动。上次团聚活动是10月举行的。
North and South Korea have held high-level talks for the first time in nearly two years, with both sides expressing a desire to improve long-strained ties.
The vice ministerial-level meeting was held Friday at the Kaesong industrial complex, just north of the tense demilitarized zone separating the two countries.
South Korean Vice Unification Minister Hwang Boo-gi and his North Korean counterpart, Jon Jong Su, struck an optimistic tone as they shook hands at the beginning of the dialogue.
There is no official agenda for the talks, and no significant breakthroughs are expected, though each side is thought to have clear goals.
Pyongyang is expected to push for the resumption of South Korean tours to its scenic Mount Kumgang resort. The South canceled the tours in 2008 after a South Korean was killed there.
Seoul wants the North to agree to more frequent reunions between North and South Koreans separated by the two countries' 1950s conflict. The last such meeting was held in October.
