韩朝举行高层会谈

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.