SEOUL, May 17 (UPI) -- South Korea Wednesday urged North Korea to follow in Libya's footsteps by giving up its nuclear ambitions to improve ties with the United States.
"Libya has become eligible for various incentives from the United States by voluntarily giving up its weapons of mass destruction," Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon told journalists.
North Korea will be given "a brighter future" once it abandons its nuclear weapons programs, Ban said. "We also believe that relations between the United States and North Korea will improve for the better," he added.
The United States restored full diplomatic ties with Libya Monday, rewarding it for scrapping its weapons of mass destruction programs.
The normalization of diplomatic ties comes after Libya agreed in December 2003 to dismantle the country's nuclear, chemical and biological warfare programs and renounce the pursuit of such weapons. In return, Washington has lifted most sanctions against Libya.
Ban said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill is to visit South Korea next week to discuss ways of resolving the North's nuclear standoff and resume multilateral talks.
"His trip reflects the fact that South Korea and the United States are working closely together to resume the six-way talks," he said.
