North and South Korean officials sat down to their highest level talks for years Wednesday, seeking an upswing in ties despite a bitter row over looming South Korea-US military exercises.

North and South Korean officials sat down to their highest level talks for years Wednesday, seeking an upswing in ties despite a bitter row over looming South Korea-US military exercises.

The discussions in the border truce village of Panmunjom had no fixed agenda, but aimed to cover a range of "major" issues, including a planned February 20-25 reunion for family members divided by the Korean War.

The South delegation was led by top National Security Council official Kim Kyou Hyun, who said Seoul's focus was on ensuring that the reunion went ahead as scheduled.

The North side is likely to make another push for South Korea to cancel its annual military drills with the United States, which are slated to begin on February 24.

Kim said he was entering the talks, which kicked off at 10:00am (0100 GMT), with "an open attitude to explore the chance of opening a new chapter on the Korean peninsula".

It was the first such high-level sit-down between the two sides since 2007, and came a day before US Secretary of State John Kerry's arrival in Seoul for a brief visit focused on North Korea.

The morning session lasted 90 minutes, with the two sides reconvening after lunch on the South side of the border village where the armistice ending the 1950-53 Korean conflict was signed 60 years ago.