By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter
President Roh Moo-hyun will leave for Laos on Sunday to attend an annual summit of Asian leaders in the Laotian capital of Vientiane, where Seoul hopes to win support from the region for a peaceful resolution to the North Korean nuclear crisis.

Following the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Vietnam last month and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Chile last week, the summit diplomacy will likely boost the efforts of Seoul as it tries to play a more active role to end the dispute.

After attending the ASEAN+3 summit, involving the leaders of the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and three Northeast Asian countries _ South Korea, China and Japan _ Roh will visit Britain, Poland and France.

Officials explained Roh’s 11-day tour is mainly aimed at improving bilateral relations, especially in economic issues, as well as gaining international support for an early resumption of the stalled talks over Pyongyang’s nuclear arms programs.

While in Vientiane, Roh is expected to reaffirm the agreement he made with U.S. President George W. Bush in Chile last week that the North Korean nuclear issue should be resolved peacefully within the framework of the six-party talks.

North Korea and the United States, along with South Korea, China, Japan and Russia, have met three times since the nuclear dispute emerged in October 2002, but have failed to produce a clear breakthrough. After the last round in June, the North has refused to return to the bargaining table citing the U.S.’ ``hostile’’ policy.

On the sidelines of the ASEAN+3 summit, Roh will have a three-way summit with the leaders of China and Japan. They are expected to discuss the nuclear issue and ways of improving tripartite cooperation.

The two-day Laos meeting will also provide opportunities for Roh to show Seoul’s commitment to fighting global terrorism, while also signing various agreements to develop a comprehensive cooperative partnership with ASEAN, officials said.

On the second leg of his tour, Roh will fly to London on Tuesday to begin a four-day state visit to Britain, the first such visit by a South Korean head of state.

Roh will hold a summit with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to seek support for South Korea’s efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis peacefully and discuss ways to enhance cooperation in finance, science and state-of-the-art technologies.

Also high on agenda will likely be a joint strategy to fight international terrorism. South Korea has some 3,600 soldiers in Iraq for peace and rehabilitation work, the third-largest force in the U.S.-led coalition after the U.S. and Britain.

In Warsaw, Roh will meet Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski to discuss a future-oriented partnership between the two countries on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral ties. Roh will be the first South Korean head of state to make a state visit to Poland since 1989.

The summit is also expected to address South Korea’s participation in Poland’s e-government project and improved cooperation in other fields of information technology.

On the last leg of his four-nation tour, Roh will fly to Paris, where he will hold a summit with French President Jacques Chirac to discuss the North Korean nuclear arms issue and cooperation in information technology and the space industry.

He will also sign a bilateral social security agreement and deliver a speech at Sorbonne University in Paris.

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr