South Korea hails nuclear declaration

SEOUL, May 29 (UPI) -- South Korea has endorsed a declaration urging North Korea to stop its nuclear ambitions and rejoin the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, officials say.

The NPT review conference adopted the joint declaration Friday during a month-long meeting in New York involving 189 countries including South Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The declaration urges North Korea to abide by it denuclearization commitments "including the complete and verifiable abandonment of all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs."

South Korean officials hailed the declaration.

"The government believes it is a strong reaffirmation of the international community's position" regarding North Korea's nuclear activities, Kim Young-sun, a spokesman for the South Korean foreign ministry, said.

North Korea withdrew from the NPT in 2003. It is party to six-nation negotiations on ending its nuclear ambitions, but has boycotted the talks since December 2008, Yonhap reported.

The talks also involve South Korea, the U.S., Japan, China and Russia.