South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said Friday that the discussion on a permanent peace treaty on the Korean Peninsula should involve four nations.

 

 

"As China has clearly expressed its intention to participate in the summit, the discussion should be held as a four-party talks," Roh told foreign correspondents at the Presidential Office in Seoul.

 

The discussion on permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula would involve China, the US, South and North Korea, he said.

 

This is the first time South Korean officials have declared China should be involved in the discussion. In a joint declaration adopted by Roh and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in early October, the two sides said the discussion should be held among "three or four parties," triggering concerns about which nation would be the third party besides North Korea and the US if the discussion were held among three parties.

 

Roh reiterated that the nuclear issues on the Korean Peninsula should be resolved within the framework of the six-party talks.

 

Inter-Korean cooperation and the six-party process are together working as a mutually reinforcing cycle, the president said.

 

The primary task for both South and North Korea is to sincerely implement the agreements reached by the two sides and enhance the mutual trust between Seoul and Pyongyang, the president said.

 

As to inter-Korean economic cooperation, Roh stressed that North Korea is a land of opportunity for entrepreneurs from South Korea. "South Korea will have to help North Korea gain access to international capital in order to build its infrastructure," he said.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2007)