By Ryu Jin
Korea Times Correspondent


President Roh Moo-hyun, right, talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in summit talks at the prime minister’s residence in London, Thursday.

LONDON - South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and British Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed on Thursday to further strengthen bilateral cooperation in high-tech areas, such as information-technology industries, between the two countries.

After summit talks at No. 10 Downing Street here in London, Blair’s official residence, the two leaders issued a joint declaration, which contained their commitment to helping each other in the international political arena as well as in economic partnerships.

Officials said Roh’s state visit to Britain has produced some ``tangible results’’ in terms of bilateral economic cooperation.

Commerce, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Hee-beom signed contracts with four British firms, which he hopes will invest a total of $624 million (649 billion won) in South Korea. They include B&Q, a distribution giant, and Snowbox, a leisure and sports company, which plan to spend $270 million and $200 million, respectively.

Roh himself also rolled up his sleeves, giving an opening address to the High-Tech Industry Forum, which kicked off here Thursday morning.

Information and Communication Minister Chin Dae-je also agreed with his British counterpart to step up cooperation between the two nations in the fields of digital broadcasting, online games, high-speed internet solutions and e-government.

``The two sides also decided to closely cooperate in areas relating to anti-spam measures and home-networking technology,’’ Chin told reporters.

Roh and Blair also shared the view that the North Korean nuclear crisis should be resolved peacefully through dialogue in the six-party talks.

``For that, active cooperation from the international community is vital,’’ Roh said during a joint press conference after the summit. ``Prime Minister Blair told me that Britain will play an active role in helping North Korea open up to the outside world and reform itself.’’

Blair said they also agreed to closely cooperate on such global issues as international terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, climate change and poverty, as well as the Iraq issue.

Having some 3,600 forces for peace and rehabilitation in Iraq, South Korea is the second-largest contributor of troops to the U.S.-led coalition following Britain.

Roh, who attended a state dinner hosted by Queen Elizabeth II Wednesday evening, thanked the Queen for Britain’s dispatch of 57,000 soldiers during the 1950-53 Korean War.

``Their sacrifices laid the groundwork for South Korea to build itself to what it is today,’’ he said. ``On behalf of all Koreans, I offer deep thanks to Your Majesty and the British people.’’

Before leaving for Poland on Friday, Roh will hold a roundtable meeting with the chief executives of about a dozen major British companies to encourage investment in South Korea.

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr