Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon has called on Asia-Europe Meeting member nations to fully support South Korea's policy of establishing peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula.

Attending an ASEM ministerial conference in Kildare, Ireland, Ban asked other foreign ministers to support Seoul's efforts toward resolving North Korea's nuclear issue peacefully.

Ban told his counterparts that South Korea firmly maintains the principle of a complete, irreversible and verifiable dismantlement of nuclear weapons by North Korea. He also said that Seoul would be willing to provide economic aid to the communist state if it agrees to freeze and then dismantle all of its nuclear facilities and allow for international nuclear inspections to verify it.

Concerning the government's planned deployment of additional troops to Iraq, Ban said just as the international community provided humanitarian aid to South Korea after the Korean War, Seoul would stand dedicated to establishing peace and stability in the war-devastated Gulf nation.