Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said Monday that the declaration of a formal end to the Korean War could take place this year despite there being little progress in denuclearization talks.

"We are working on realizing (the end-of-war declaration) by the end of the year," Cho told lawmakers during a parliamentary audit. "I think it is possible at this moment."

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed during their first-ever April summit to seek an official end to the 1950-53 Korean War and work toward replacing the Armistice Agreement that ended the hostilities with a peace treaty.

The US has been reluctant to rush for the end-of-war declaration as Washington apparently sees it as a major concession for North Korea, along with sanctions relief, at a time when the North has not made corresponding efforts to denuclearize its nuclear and missile programs.

Moon and Kim held their third summit in Pyongyang last month following one in April and another in May. Kim agreed to visit Seoul at an early date, possibly this year.

As progress in denuclearization talks between the North and the US has been slower than expected, however, it remains unclear whether the North Korean leader could come to Seoul this year.

In response to a question as to whether Kim could come to Seoul before the end of this year despite the lack of substantial progress in denuclearization talks, the unification minister said, "Yes."

With regard to concerns that inter-Korean cooperation has been partly hindered by Washington's opposition, Cho admitted that there are some areas where South Korea and the US might differ but noted that it does not mean that Washington objects.

"There are areas where we have different ideas from the US, but it does not mean that the US is opposed to inter-Korean cooperation but that it is reviewing it in a cooperative manner," he said. "We and the US are in the process of consultation."

Cho reaffirmed that South Korea and the US do not differ in their objective of making North Korea nuclear-free, but he emphasized that active inter-Korean cooperation could contribute to realizing their shared goal, which he said Washington also agreed to.

The US has apparently been wary of faster improvement in inter-Korean relations than progress in its denuclearization talks with North Korea, which experts say has been standing in the way of Seoul going ahead with cross-border cooperation projects with the North, such as connecting railways between the two Koreas.

In August, the United Nations Command that monitors the implementation of the armistice disapproved South Korea's move to transfer materials to the North needed for the two Koreas to conduct joint on-site inspections of railways in preparation for their connection.

The decision sparked speculation that the UNC had reflected Washington's growing discomfort with the Seoul government pushing ahead with its cross-border cooperation despite stalemated nuclear talks.

Recently, the two Koreas agreed to conduct on-site surveys on railways along their western and east coasts in late October and early November, but they have not determined the dates for the joint works.

A further delay could darken the prospect for the two Koreas to follow through on their plan to hold a ground-breaking ceremony for modernizing and connecting their railways and roads in late November or early December.

Meanwhile, Cho said that a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula does not mean the withdrawal of US troops stationed in South Korea, as the latter is an "issue of alliance" between Seoul and Washington.

About 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea. Critics say that the North might be making a veiled attempt to force the US to pull out the troops by pushing for complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, apparently including South Korea.

"Some in the North are making that argument ... but there have been no precedents (in recent years) in which (the North) made an official demand for the US to withdraw its troops," Cho said.  (Yonhap)