North Korea sent a high-level delegation to South Korea on Saturday, a nearly unprecedented move that could renew hope of repairing relations between the neighboring countries.

The delegation was led by a top advisor of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and held talks with South Korea's national security advisor and other state officials, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

The two countries -- which have had frosty relations since the Korean War halted in 1953 with an armistice -- talked mainly about their respective performances at the Asian Games, which ended Saturday.

But the sides agreed to hold further talks over the next several weeks about border issues shared by the countries. The visit from North Korea effectively ended a diplomatic standoff that started this year. Television cameras caught the two groups laughing and joking with each other.

An official from the South Korean Unification Ministry said on Monday that the meeting was a "small but meaningful step" for relations between the two countries, adding that "it's significant that South and North Korean officials had an opportunity to open dialogue."

In response to the weekend meeting, the sides are preparing to renew discussions on inter-Korean issues such as the reunification of families separated by the Korean War, but no specific dates or locations have been determined.

"The delegates agreed to have working-level consultations on specific matters ahead of the high-level meeting," the Unification Ministry said in a statement, according to the Washington Post. "The North explained that it intends to continue inter-Korean dialogue by naming the upcoming meeting the second round of talks."

The surprise visit by the North was the first such move in more than five years and came at a time when speculation is flying about North Korean leadership, as its dictator hasn't been seen in public for a month.

"It's a big deal, it's really a big deal, because it's completely unprecedented," said Andrei Lankov, a North Korea scholar who now teaches in Seoul.