South Korea's foreign minister, Yoon Young-kwan, said Tuesday that the case of North Korea is different from that of Libya, which recently decided to give up its weapons of mass destruction, and rejected the view that the U.S. may put more pressure on Pyongyang instead of engaging in diplomacy.

During a weekly news briefing, Yoon said U.S. President George W. Bush's expression of willingness to provide the North with a written security guarantee means that a negotiation process has already been started.

The minister also said that parties to the six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program are approaching an agreement that would possibly allow for a new round of discussions to begin before the crafting of a joint statement.

Yoon said a consensus is being forged that agreement on the draft of a joint statement is not a precondition for the second round of six-party talks, adding that even if a new session takes place without agreement on the draft, it will likely produce more substantial outcomes than the first round of talks.

After the inconclusive first round of talks in Beijing in August, a new meeting had been expected to be held before the year's end at the latest.

However, hopes for a year-end meeting were dashed after preparatory negotiations aimed at crafting a joint statement to be adopted at the main session stalled. Concerned countries are now trying to convene a new meeting early next year.