WASHINGTON _ South Korea and the U.S. agreed to seek a four-nation summit to declare a formal end to the Korean War, providing that Pyongyang fully discloses its nuclear stockpile, officials from Seoul said on Tuesday.
Baek Jong-chun, the chief presidential secretary for security policy, met with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley on Monday to brief them on recent inter-Korean contacts, including those between defense ministers and a visit to Seoul by a senior Pyongyang official.
"There was an understanding with Secretary Rice and others that if North Korea disables its nuclear facilities and fully declares its stockpile, we could pursue the four-way summit," said Park Seon-won, Baek's assistant.
"The key here is North Korea's complete declaration, and once we gain mutual confidence, we can push the process forward," he said.
South Korea hopes to arrange a summit with North Korea, China, and the U.S. to officially end the 1950-1953 Korean War, a step it sees as a prelude to negotiations for a peace regime. North Korea and China are signatories to the Korean War armistice, along with the U.S., which signed on behalf of the U.N. forces.
The four countries, plus Japan and Russia, are also members of the six-party process aimed at denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
Under a series of agreements made since September 2005, North Korea is required to disable its key nuclear facilities by end of this year. It also must submit a declaration of its nuclear material and programs, as well as any proliferation activities, by the end of the year.
A Korean peace treaty is one of the political incentives offered to Pyongyang for implementing the agreements.
(Yonhap)