The Pugwash Conference, an international body for consultation on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament, has opened its 54th annual meeting in Seoul.

Tuesday's opening ceremony was attended by dignitaries, including former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, and the founder of the nonproliferation conference, Joseph Rotblat.

During his keynote speech at the opening ceremony, Kim called on North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program, saying it clearly violates a 1992 joint declaration in which the two Koreas agreed to keep the Korean Peninsula nuclear-free.

The former president also called on the United States to offer North Korea a security guarantee and not to impede the North's efforts to join the international community. Kim said such would be the way to prevent Pyongyang from yielding to the temptation of acquiring nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction.

This year's conference is being attended by some 200 nuclear experts and officials from various related organizations.

Agreements and outcomes produced by the conference will not be revealed until the end of the meeting, as most of its working group negotiations will be held behind closed doors.