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South and North Korea began working-level talks at the neutral border village of Panmunjeom on Saturday to discuss the future of the suspended inter-Korean industrial complex.

The two sides agreed to hold the talks late Thursday to iron out differences over the Gaeseong Industrial Complex that has been shut down for nearly three months amid high tensions on the divided Korean Peninsula.

The Ministry of Unification said the talks between representatives from the two sides began at 11:45 a.m. with Seoul and Pyongyang outlining items on their agendas that need to be addressed for operations to return to normal.

"I've been heavy-hearted since the Gaeseong industrial complex was shut down. I hope we will resolve problems concerning the complex through mutual cooperation and trust," said Suh Ho, South Korea's chief delegate, at the start of the talks. He is in charge of the ministry's exchange and cooperation bureau.

His North Korean counterpart Park Chol-su, vice director at the General Bureau for the Special Zone that controls the Gaeseong complex, said measures to prevent damage to the facilities from monsoon rains should take top priority during talks.

The talks were delayed for nearly two hours as telephone lines to the South needed repairs, the ministry said.

The North pulled all of its 53,000 workers from the South Korea-funded complex in April amid tensions over annual military exercises in the South and a new U.N. sanctions resolution adopted after its third nuclear test in February.

Seoul quickly responded by bringing home all of its workers from the complex, which had been billed as the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.

Seoul said that it wants to talk about allowing engineers to check manufacturing facilities that have been idle for months and discuss the return of finished products and raw production materials owned by South Korean companies.

Officials here have said they intend to negotiate safeguards that will prevent the North from arbitrarily closing down the complex down the road.

The meeting at Tongilgak on the North Korean side of the joint security area marks the first time government authorities have sat down together to exclusively discuss the industrial park that is the last economic link between the two Koreas.

Past cooperative tie-ups such as the Mount Kumgang tours and joint South-North ventures outside of the Gaeseong complex, have all been abandoned due to deteriorating relations.

The latest meeting came after the North's General Bureau for Central Guidance to the Development of the Special Zone sent invitations to South Korean businessmen with factories in Gaeseong, assuring them of safe passage to the border city.

The South countered this move by calling for government-to-government negotiations, while putting off allowing visits by businessmen until after officials hold talks. (Yonhap News)