Anchor: South Korea says it would welcome the U.S. and North Korea declaring a formal end to the Korean War during their upcoming summit later this week. Ahead of the Hanoi summit, the presidential office in Seoul approved of the two sides possibly ending the war without South Korea’s involvement, saying a war-ending declaration is fundamentally aimed at  incentivizing Pyongyang to denuclearize. 
Kim Bum-soo has more.

Report: Seoul's presidential office says Washington and Pyongyang could agree to declare an official end to the Korean War during their summit in Vietnam later this week. 

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Presidential Spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom addressed the possibility of a war-ending declaration without Seoul's participation.

[Sound bite: Presidential Spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom (Korean)]
"The possibility is open. It is unclear what kind of format the war-ending declaration will be, but it is possible North Korea and the U.S. would agree to a deal." 

Kim said Seoul welcomes any four-, three-, or two-way declaration to put an end to the war which mainly involved the two Koreas, the U.S. and China and that a two-way accord between the U.S. and North Korea will technically suffice.

[Sound bite: Presidential Spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom (Korean)]
"I think a declaration just between North Korea and the U.S. will be sufficient... What's more important is that our government welcomes any form of war-ending declaration that pushes for a smooth denuclearization and speeds up the process."  

The spokesman noted that diplomatic relations have already been established between South Korea and China, as well as the U.S. and China, and that the two Koreas in effect declared the war's end and signed a non-aggression pact through two rounds of inter-Korean summits.

Kim said that ending the war is different from signing a peace treaty and the South Korean government believes that multilateral parties need to guarantee peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Spokesman Kim was unsure how many countries should be involved in the peace treaty, which he said will establish peace not just on the Korean Peninsula but also in Northeast Asia.  

The Korean War lasted for three years from 1950 to 1953 and ended in an armistice, which South Korea never signed due to then South Korean President Syngman Rhee’s refusal to accept the division of Korea. 
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.

[Photo : YONHAP News]