The South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, said that the US, China, and South Korea agreed in principle to declare a formal end to the Korean war, almost 70 years after the conflict ended in a shaky truce.
Moon said he believed that the four main parties agreed in principle to a peace declaration, because he believes that the talks on the 1950-53 war were being held back by North Korean objections to present-day US hostility.
He added that North Korea had made an end to US hostility a precondition for talks.
He said at a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison that we are not allowed to sit down for a negotiation on the declarations between South and North Korea, and those between North Korea and the United States. We hope that talks will be started. Moon believed that it was important to end the instability armistice that had been in place for almost seven decades, and added that a peace declaration could improve the prospects for a breakthrough on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.
He said that this is going to help us start negotiations for denuclearization and peace on the Korean peninsula. This is very important on that front as well. On Tuesday, the South Korean unification minister, Lee In-young, said a declaration could be a turning point in a new phase of peace and urged North Korea to accept Seoul's offer of dialogue.
According to the Yonhap news agency, North Korea seems to be showing more openness towards dialogue than before. North Korea has fired several short-range missiles this year, but it hasn't made the situation worse by raising tensions to a high level. The Korean war ended in July 1953 with an armistice but not a peace treaty, so the North and South are still technically at war.
Moon wants a peace treaty before his single five-year term as South Korean President ends next spring, because he has made engagement with North Korea a key feature of his administration.
He called for a formal end to hostilities during his speech at the UN general assembly in September, prompting Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, to describe his initiative as an interesting and good idea Chinese officials have reportedly voiced support for the proposal, while South Korea and the US are reportedly in the final stages of drawing up a draft declaration.
North Korea has indicated that it will not join the talks on ending the conflict, while the US maintains its hostile stance, a reference to the presence of 28,500 American troops in South Korea and annual US-South Korea military drills that Pyongyang regards as a rehearsal for an invasion.
Opinion in South Korea and the US is divided over the merits of signing a formal peace treaty while North Korea continues to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in a defiance of UN sanctions.
Supporters agree with Moon that it would normalise ties with the North and encourage the regime to return to stalled nuclear talks, but critics believe it would reward the regime's provocative behaviour and threaten the presence of US troops in the South.