Foreign Minister Song Min-soon said Friday that the government will work to begin talks on a Korean Peninsula peace regime within this year in line with progress in the resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue.

Song told a forum of overseas ethnic Korean politicans that if North Korea's nuclear facilities are completely disabled by year's end, the scrapping of North's nuclear weapons program can begin in earnest next year.

Song said he hopes the Korean peace talks will also lead to the launch of a multilateral security dialogue in Northeast Asia.

He also talked about Seoul's plan to provide support for overseas Koreans, noting that the government aims to help ethnic Koreans overseas maintain their identity and establish networks among themselves.