"I think that we have already begun consultations with the South Korean government in order to develop a common approach to these talks," ambassador Alexander Vershbow told a forum.

He said it would take some time to negotiate "all aspects of a peace agreement that is not just a brief declaration that says the war is over, but also will involve all kinds of provisions including military confidence-building measures."

North Korea must verifiably dismantle its nuclear weapons before any peace pact, US President George W. Bush told his South Korean counterpart Roh Moo-Hyun in Sydney last week.

But Vershbow was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying preliminary talks on a peace treaty could be held before the end of denuclearisation.

He said the two Koreas will be the principal participants in the process, with the US and China playing key supporting roles.

Roh has said talks on formally ending the state of war with North Korea will be the focus of his summit next month in Pyongyang with leader Kim Jong-Il.

The conflict, in which US-led United Nations forces fought for South Korea and China backed the North, ended with an armistice -- which South Korea did not sign -- and not a permanent peace treaty.

In a six-nation February accord the communist state agreed to declare and disable all its nuclear programmes in return for aid, security guarantees and major diplomatic benefits.

These could include normalised relations between North Korea and the United States and Japan, an end to US trade sanctions and a formal peace treaty.

In July the North, which tested an atomic weapon last October, took the first step by shutting down its only operating reactor at Yongbyon.

Nuclear experts from the US, China and Russia are currently visiting the North to advise on ways to permanently disable the plants. The three countries are part of the six-party talks along with the two Koreas and Japan.

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