The two Koreas have begun four days of ministerial talks in Pyongyang after a seven-month hiatus.

High-ranking officials from the two sides last met in the South Korean port city of Busan immediately after North Korea conducted missile tests last July.

Seoul’s Unification Minister Lee Jae-jeong and his 50-member delegation flew direct to Pyongyang's Sunan Airport, taking the West Sea route in an Asiana Airlines chartered plane.

The South Korean delegates will stay at the Koryo Hotel and attend a welcoming dinner hosted by North Korean Premier Pak Pong-ju at the Yanggakdo International Hotel.

On the second day of the talks, the two sides will discuss humanitarian aid to the North, as well as resuming reunions of separated families, inter-Korean railway tests and bilateral cooperation in light and heavy industries and the development of mineral resources.

They will also discuss holding inter-Korean defense ministers' talks.