President Roh Moo-Hyun said the deal announced Tuesday in Beijing could lead to a permanent peace agreement on the divided peninsula.

One day after the North agreed to disable its nuclear plants in return for a million tonnes of energy aid and diplomatic benefits, both North and South Korea announced they want to resume ministerial talks suspended since July.

Officials were to meet Thursday in Kaesong, just north of the heavily fortified frontier, to make preparations for such talks.

Presidential security adviser Yun Byung-Se said the resumption of South Korea's massive food and fertiliser aid to the impoverished communist state would be on the agenda when the ministerial talks reopen at a date to be fixed.

South Korea suspended a shipment of 100,000 tonnes of fertiliser aid and 500,000 tonnes of rice after North Korea test-launched missiles in July.

It maintained the aid suspension after the North's October nuclear test.

Unification Minister Lee Jae-Joung, in charge of relations with the North, hailed the Beijing agreement as a "critical turning point" in creating a new peace regime on the peninsula.

North and South Korea have remained technically at war since the 1950-53 conflict ended without a peace treaty.

The nuclear agreement combined with Wall Street's overnight rally to send share prices rising 1.25 percent or 17.66 points to close at the year's best level of 1,436.10.

Roh, in comments released Wednesday, said he expects smooth implementation of the deal.

"What is quite important in the agreements, aside from the settlement of North Korea's nuclear issue, is the phrase that says talks should start to discuss a permanent peace regime on the Korean peninsula," he said during a state visit to Spain.

"Furthermore, the agreement calls for talks aimed at establishing a multilateral security cooperation system in Northeast Asia and this has a wide scope," Roh said, according to a presidential statement.

The agreement says the six countries -- the two Koreas, China, Japan, the United States and Russia -- will "negotiate a permanent peace regime on the Korean peninsula" at an appropriate separate forum.

The United States, which fought for the South against North Korea and China in 1950-53, has raised the prospect of signing a peace treaty to replace the armistice if a final deal with the North is reached.

Roh called the nuclear agreement very specific and substantial.

"All parties of the six-nation talks faithfully produced the agreements. Thus I expect that the agreements will be smoothly enforced in the future," he said.

South Korean conservatives, who accuse Roh's government of appeasement of the North through its engagement policy, gave the deal a more guarded welcome.