A senior presidential aide says the government is considering a proposal to turn the heavily fortified buffer zone along the inter-Korean border into a peace zone.

The official said Thursday that President Roh Moo-hyun will make the proposal to North Korea during his talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il next week in Pyongyang.

In an interview with the Yonhap news agency, the official said the proposal calls for turning the demilitarized zone and the western sea border into a peace zone to ease military tensions and promote peace.

The 250-kilometer-long, four-kilometer-wide DMZ has remained the world's most heavily fortified border since the Korean War that ended in a shaky truce in 1953. The western maritime border known as the Northern Limit Line (NLL) was the scene of bloody naval confrontations in 2002.

The official said Mr. Roh also plans to make a proposal to develop a special economic zone in the North as part of efforts to create an inter-Korean economic community.

Under the plan, a special economic zone similar to the Gaesong Industrial Complex would be built in the Haeju area in the North's South Hwanghae Province.