South Korea has urged US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to visit Pyongyang as a "political boosting measure" to an international deal requiring the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to disable its nuclear facilities, the Washington Times reported yesterday.

"On the basis of what has been achieved on the ground, it is the right time for Condi Rice to try to visit North Korea (DPRK),"South Korea's ambassador to Washington Lee Tae-sik said Wednesday in an exclusive interview with the newspaper.

Lee referred to this month's agreement, reached at the six-party talks in Beijing, China, in which Pyongyang promised to disable the three main facilities at the Yongbyon complex and produce a full list of its nuclear programs.

"Whenever you have an arms-control agreement, it's very technical," the ambassador said, "Unless you boost it by political means, then it's going to be a bit precarious."

However, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said there are "no current plans" for Rice to visit the DPRK.

The South Korean envoy noted that the highest level US visit to Pyongyang -- by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 2000 -- had made significant progress, but the most sensitive issues could have been solved only if President Bill Clinton had traveled to the DPRK later that year.