In light of Kim Jong-un's month-long reclusiveness and rumors of governmental infighting, three top North Korean leaders made a last-minute visit South Korea on Saturday.
It's the highest level face-to-face talks the rival countries have held in five years and, though no major breakthroughs seem to have come out of the meeting which occurred in the South Korean port city of Incheon - and the topics of discussion aren't yet clear - the meeting itself is indication that both sides are moving forward after months of heated hostility.
South Korea's Unification Ministry said in a statement that North Korea voiced their willingness to hold an additional round of high-level meetings towards the end of October, reported the Associated Press.
The meeting came as the North Korean's made a surprise visit to their southern neighbor to attend the closing ceremony of the Asian Games.
Leading the meeting for the North Koreans was Hwang Pyong-so, the top political officer for the Korean People's Army and widely considered the second-in-command after Kim Jong-un. He was accompanied by Kim Yang-gon and Choe Ryong-hae.
North Korea analyst Andrei Lankov from Seoul's Kookmin University told CNN that he cannot remember there ever being such a high-level visit.
"Within my memory ... there was never ever such a high-level visit. Never," said Lankov, adding that two of the three visitors "are essentially number two and number three in North Korean official hierarchy," right behind Kim Jong-un, the "Dear Leader."
The meeting between the North and South comes at a time when media reports are highlighting Kim Jong Un's recent absence from important state events due to reported gout and diabetes.
More recent conflicting reports suggest that the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, has been placed on lockdown due to either a high-level attempted coup or senior leaders defecting, but sources in Pyongyang told Seoul-based NK News that there are "no signs of any tense situation in the city."
However, a former top North Korean official told VICE News on Thursday that Kim Jong-un is "no longer in control of the country, and that members of the government's Office of Guidance and Development have effectively seized power."
U.S. State Department officials told reporters that coup reports are unconfirmed.
It's unclear whether the meeting between North and South Korea was in regards to reports of a coup.
