Koreas hold talks in South

SEOUL— North Korea’s presumptive No. 2 and other members of its inner circle met with South Korean officials Saturday in the rivals’ highest level face- to- face talks in five years, a possible indication that both sides are interested in pursuing better ties after months of animosity.

There appeared to be no major breakthrough in the meeting, which came as the North’s delegation made a surprise visit to the closing of the Asian Games in the South Korean port city of Incheon. But the countries agreed to hold another round of talks at the end of the month or in early November, according to a South Korean statement. The specific topics of Saturday’s discussions weren’t immediately known.

Still, the fact that North Koreans at the highest levels visited the South was significant, allowing valuable contact between confidants of North Korea’s authoritarian leader and senior South Korean officials after a year that has seen a steady stream of insults between the divided neighbors and an unusual number of North Korean missile and rocket test firings.

One analyst called it a “golden opportunity” for South Korean President Park Geun- hye to test North Korea’s willingness to improve shaky relations.

The North Koreans were led by Hwang Pyong So, the top political officer for the Korean People’s Army, considered by outside analysts to be North Korea’s secondmost important official, after supreme leader Kim Jong Un. Hwangis also a vice chairman of the powerful National Defense Commission.