The U.S. government has begun studying possible ways to formally end more than 50 years of Cold War hostilities between Washington and Pyongyang, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
Unidentified senior U.S. officials were quoted as saying that they were exploring how to implement a peace accord to officially end the 1950-1953 Korean War.
The United States hopes to start discussions with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as soon as year end, the officials said.
In February, the DPRK pledged during the six-party talks to begin dismantling its nuclear-weapons program in exchange for economic aid and eventually diplomatic relations with the U.S. and its Asian allies.
In addition to the DPRK and the U.S., the six-party talks also involve China, South Korea, Japan and Russia.
After months of delay, signs have emerged in the past few weeks that Pyongyang is moving ahead with its disarmament pledge.
By mid-July, the DPRK is expected to have shut down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor in return for an aid shipment of 50,000 tons of fuel oil, as part of a gradual process that envisions the country eventually normalizing its relations with the U.S., Japan and South Korea.
The recent signals have raised guarded hopes that progress can finally begin toward a formal peace on the Korean peninsula, where a truce has prevailed since 1953, the report said.
