Roh, Bush to Meet at APEC Conference

Cheong Wa Dae announced yesterday that President Roh Moo-hyun will have summit meetings with leaders of the U.S., Japan, China, Russia, Canada and Vietnam on the sidelines of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, which is to be held in Hanoi, Vietnam on November 18 and 19.

President Roh will hold a summit with his Chinese counterpart President Hu Jintao and Vietnamese counterpart, President Nguyen Minh Triet on November 17, the day he arrives in Hanoi, Vietnam. President Roh then will have talks with his U.S. counterpart, President George W. Bush, Japanese counterpart, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and Canadian counterpart, Prime Minister Stephen Harper the next day.

President Roh is expected to explain the reason Korea refused to join the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) and discuss the issue of extending the deployment of Korean troops in Iraq at the summit with President Bush.

jyw11@donga.com