President sure North will abandon weapons

? South Korea’s president expressed confidence that North Korea will abandon its nuclear weapons after a summit with Kim Jong Il, where the two countries pledged Thursday to pursue a peace treaty and end their decadeslong standoff across the world’s last Cold War frontier.

They signed an accord promising a joint effort to implement previous agreements from six-nation arms talks “for the solution of the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula.”

“Now that the highest leader of North Korea confirmed a clear commitment to the North’s nuclear dismantlement, I don’t see any problem in carrying it out,” South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said after what was only the second summit ever between the two longtime foes.

The Koreas said they also “agreed to closely cooperate to end military hostility and ensure peace and easing of tension on the Korean peninsula.” They “shared the view that they should end the current armistice regime and establish a permanent peace regime.”