韓朝舉行高層會談

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.朝鮮和韓國舉行了近兩年來的首次高層會談，雙方都表示願意改善長期以來的緊張關係。

這次副部長級會談於星期五在開城工業園區舉行。開城工業園區位於朝鮮半島非軍事區的北方一側。

韓國統一部副部長黃富起和朝鮮和平統一委員會書記局副局長田鍾秀在會談開始時握手，顯示了樂觀的態度。

這次會談沒有正式議事日程，外界也不期待會談將取得重大突破，不過據信雙方都有各自明確的目的。

預計平壤將敦促首爾恢復韓國人對朝鮮旅遊勝地金剛山的觀光活動。2008年一名韓國人在金剛山被殺後，首爾取消了前往該地區的觀光。

首爾希望平壤同意更經常地安排韓戰離散家庭團聚活動。上次團聚活動是10月舉行的。