BBC Online :
Officials from North and South Korea are holding their first high-level talks since 2007.
The meeting – requested by Pyongyang – is taking place at the border village of Panmunjom.
No agenda has been set but the issue of family reunions planned for later this month is expected to be discussed.
Pyongyang has threatened to cancel the reunions because of the annual military exercises South Korea and the US are due to stage in February.
The morning session started at 10:00 local time (01:00 GMT) and lasted for 90 minutes. Delegates then reconvened at South Korea’s side of Panmunjom in the afternoon, AFP news agency said.
South Korean officials say they were pleasantly surprised when North Korea’s invitation arrived. It is the first time in more than six years, they say, that a meeting at this level has taken place. A similar attempt last year fell victim to a spat over protocol, but this time both sides appear more willing to talk.
The meeting comes after weeks of pointed diplomatic overtures by Pyongyang that have raised hopes in some quarters that the mood on the peninsula is changing.
But others point out that previous North Korean charm offensives have been followed by renewed confrontation, and that Pyongyang’s new cordiality has come with a warning: that the joint military exercises scheduled to take place this month between the US and South Korea are incompatible with friendlier inter-Korean ties.
South Korea’s Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Kyou-hyun is leading Seoul’s delegation at the Panmunjom talks.
Ahead of the meeting, Kim said: “This is an opportunity to open a new era of the Korean peninsula.
