'At the talks both sides exchanged views on boosting relations between the two countries and issues of mutual concern,' the Korean Central News Agency reported without giving details.

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

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

It has said Mr Yeo's visit would likely speed up economic cooperation between North Korea and Singapore, which forged diplomatic ties in 1967.

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