Seoul  - North and South Korea on Saturday held their first high-level talks for almost two years, a news report said.

South Korea's Minister of Unification Hyun In Taek met Kim Yang Gon, the head of the unification front department of North Korea's ruling Korean Workers' Party, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

Kim Yang Gon, who who is responsible for contacts with the South, was in Seoul as part of a delegation sent by North Korean ruler Kim Jong Il. The delegation was in Seoul to pay the North's respects to former South Korean President Kim Dae Jung who died on Tuesday.

Kim Yang Gon said that after meeting several people in the South he had realised that relations had to be improved.

After rising tensions in recent months caused in part by North Korea's test-firing of a long-range missile and its second nuclear test, there have been increasing signs of North Korea's readiness to improve relations with the South. (dpa)