Top N. Korea leaders hold talks on rare visit to South

Visiting North Korean officials, Kim Yang-Gon (3rd R), Hwang Pyong-So (2nd R) and Choe Ryong-Hae (R) attend at a meeting with South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-Jae (L), at a hotel in Incheon, west of Seoul, on October 4, 2014

Incheon (South Korea) (AFP) - Three top North Korean officials, including the nuclear-armed nation's de facto number two, made a surprise visit to South Korea on Saturday and held the highest-level talks for years, fuelling hopes of a breakthrough in troubled cross-border ties.

The meeting had an immediate impact, with the two sides agreeing to resume a formal high-level dialogue that has been in limbo for seven months.