The nation's chief nuclear negotiator says the six-party talks should be able to launch discussions by year's end on a time line for North Korea's nuclear dismantlement, the step following disablement.

Speaking at an international workshop on the southern island of Jeju, Chun Yung-woo said that waiting until the North fully declares and disables its nuclear program would leave a gap in the denuclearization process.

However, he warned that his projections assumed the North would fulfill its obligations under the six-party agreement reached early this month.

Chun went on to say that Seoul believed North Korea's denuclearization could be finished as early as next summer.

He added that progress toward denuclearization should come before discussions for a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.