Governor Park Seung of the Bank of Korea held a first-ever meeting with his North Korean counterpart, Kim Wan-soo, in the Swiss city of Basel.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 74th annual general meeting of BIS or the Bank for International Settlements.
The central bank in Seoul said Tuesday that Governor Park met the chief of North Korea's central bank, who was making his first-ever appearance at an international financial conference.
At a reception hosted by the secretary general of BIS, the two heads had an hour-long discussion on the function, role and the structure of central banks, and also agreed to cooperate regardless of ideological differences of the two Koreas.
Governor Kim was attending the BIS conference in the capacity of an observor.
The BIS is an international organisation which fosters cooperation among central banks and other agencies in pursuit of monetary and financial stability.