GAESEONG, North Korea -- The two Koreas held a rare high-level meeting Friday in the North Korean border town of Gaeseong, seeking to mend fences worn by a flare-up in military tensions last summer and a perennial standoff over sanctions, stalled tours and other issues.

The South’s delegation, led by Vice Unification Minister Hwang Boo-gi, left for the city that houses a joint factory park early in the morning to join his counterpart Jon Jong-su, a vice director of the North’s Committee for Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland in charge of cross-border affairs.

The talks followed a working-level agreement on Nov. 26 and earlier one in late August between Kim Kwan-jin, chief of Cheong Wa Dae’s National Security Office, and Hwang Pyong-so, vice chairman of the North’s National Defense Commission and director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People’s Army.

The sides did not arrange a specific agenda for the latest negotiations, but Seoul was set on inducing Pyongyang’s promise to hold regular reunions of the families displaced by the 1950-53 Korean War and drawing what it describes as a “fundamental solution” to tackle the issue. The North was expected to be focusing on calling for a restart of tours to the scenic resort of Mount Geumgangsan. 

“We thought about (inter-Korean) business projects after coming down here to Gaeseong yesterday and looking around the district,” Jon said at the onset of the talks. “Despite the winter’s cold weather, let’s make utmost efforts to bring the spring sun to the North-South relations.”

Hwang, in response, stressed the significance of the rare formal meeting, which he said may help chart the path for a future reunification if the sides managed to build momentum.

“There has been virtually no dialogue over the last eight years. Though we did meet on several occasions, such as high-level emergency contacts, they were exceptional and I think the talks that could improve the relations in earnest are just about to begin,” he said.

“The distrust and confrontation, meanwhile, have only deepened and the barriers grown higher. Let’s bring them down, plug the gap and open the grand path.”

Given the stark differences in their positions, however, the two Koreas appeared to face a long way to go before forging a compromise.

After the 30-minute opening plenary session from 10:30 a.m., a second round only began at 6:15 p.m. between the chief delegates alone, indicating a heated tug-of-war over a joint statement.

Once touted as a symbol of cross-border rapprochement, the tour program was launched in 1998, but suspended after a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier in July 2008 when she purportedly strolled into an off-limits area.

The cash-strapped North has been repeatedly calling for a resumption of the lucrative project. But Seoul has been steadfast in its demand for an apology and measures to preclude a relapse and to ensure the safety of its citizens, in addition to its concerns about a suspected diversion of its revenues for military and other undesired uses.

Tensions have been escalating further in recent days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un claimed the communist state has developed a hydrogen bomb, which may signal a major step forward in its nuclear capabilities, though Seoul officials remain unconvinced of the claim’s veracity.

By Shin Hyon-hee and Joint Press Corps (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)