South Korea and the United States have pledged massive economic aid to North Korea, should the communist country stop its nuclear program.

In a joint press conference in Seoul on Thursday, visiting US President Barack Obama discussed Pyongyang's nuclear case with his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak.

The South Korean leader announced that he and Obama agreed to offer the North a grand bargain.

"I hope that by accepting our proposal, the North will secure safety for itself, improve the quality of life for its people, and open the path to a new future," Lee said.

However, he noted that there was no deadline for a nuclear deal with the North but that he wanted Pyongyang to move quickly.

"We have to know if North Korea is willing to give up its nuclear programs. A deadline for North Korea to abandon its nuclear plans has not been decided," said Lee.

The meeting comes as the Obama administration prepares to send an envoy for the first US-North Korea bilateral talks since Obama took office.

The US leader said he would send US envoy Stephen Bosworth to North Korea for direct talks on December 8.

"We will be sending Ambassador Bosworth to North Korea on December 8 to engage in direct talks with the North Koreans," Obama told reporters.

Bosworth's mission is to bring Pyongyang back to the six-party nuclear disarmament talks, which it quit in April, a month before staging a second atomic weapons test.

Last month, North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Il said his country was ready to return to the six-nation talks but only if the bilateral discussions with the US are satisfactory.

The six-nation talks, which began more than six years ago, group the two Koreas, the US, China, Russia and Japan.

Obama's visit to South Korea wrapped up his Asian tour, which began last week and took him to Tokyo and Beijing before Seoul.

AGB/AKM