North heads South to set up future talks

North Korea's presumptive No. 2 Hwang Pyong So, third left, and other members of Pyongyang's inner circle met with South Korean officials Saturday in the rivals' highest level face-to-face talks in five years. Photo / AP

Three of North Korea's senior officials travelled to South Korea at the weekend for the first time in five years, meeting the South Korean Prime Minister and agreeing to a new round of talks between the countries.

The surprise visit came amid intense speculation about the fate of Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader, who has not been seen in public for almost a month.

The North Korean leaders included the man thought to be Kim Jong Un's second-in-command, Vice-Marshal Hwang Pyong So, and his predecessor Choe Ryong Hae. The third senior official was Pyongyang's former spy chief, Kim Yang Gon, who heads the United Front Department, the ministry that oversees inter-Korean relations.

The three men first met Kim Kwan Jin, a key adviser to South Korea's President Park Geun Hye, and Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl Jae. They went on to meet Prime Minister Chung Hong Won at the stadium in Incheon during the closing ceremony for the Asian Games.

During a 14-minute meeting, the two sides "largely exchanged friendly remarks without going into sensitive political topics", reported Yonhap, the South Korean news agency.

Kim Jong Un has not been seen since a video emerged of him limping to the podium during a session of the Supreme People's Assembly and the state media has reported that he is in an "indisposed condition". That set off rumours covering everything from his ankles snapping under his weight to a coup. So denied that Kim has had surgery on his ankles, and said speculation about his health was "fabricated rumours".

At the last talks, in February, the two sides discussed the reunions of families who were separated during the Korean War six decades ago.

The last such senior visit was in 2009, for the funeral of the liberal South Korean President Kim Dae Jung.