The state Korean Central News Agency said Mr Yeo met his North Korean counterpart Pak Ui Chun over a banquet on Saturday, without elaborating.

The agency also said on Saturday that Mr Pak held talks with Mr Yeo and his delegation upon their arrival in Pyongyang. Again no other details were given.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said on Sunday Mr Yeo's visit would likely speed up economic cooperation between North Korea and Singapore, who forged diplomatic ties in 1967.

The foreign minsiter's trip follows a visit in February this year by Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong to the North's city of Kaesong, a South Korean-run industrial complex just north of the inter-Korean border.

Mr Yeo, who will stay in North Korea until Wednesday, plans to visit Kaesong and Nampo, a port south of Pyongyang, according to Yonhap.

North Korea held key talks with the United States in April in Singapore to break an impasse over nuclear disarmament negotiations. -- AFP