By Ryu Jin
Staff Reporter




South Korea and the United States will likely issue a joint declaration after a summit in Kyongju Thursday, in which the allies would reaffirm the half-century-old alliance and concerted efforts to end the North Korean nuclear standoff, officials said Tuesday.

``Officials from the two sides are in the final phase of a discussion on a joint document that will contain the results of the scheduled summit,’’ a government official in Seoul said on condition of anonymity. ``But the form of the document has yet to be decided.’’

President Roh Moo-hyun will meet with U.S. President George W. Bush, who will arrive here Wedenesday for a state visit ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit Nov. 18-19, to discuss pending bilateral issues and regional security issues.

There are several forms of documents issued after a summit of two or more countries, such as a joint declaration, joint communique and joint press statement. Roh and Bush will likely adopt a joint declaration, one of the highest forms of such documents, according to sources.

In what would be called the ``Kyongju Declaration,’’ the two heads of state are expected to stress the South Korea-U.S. alliance, the peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue and joint efforts to establish a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.

The declaration will also probably contain clauses on measures to develop bilateral relations between Seoul and Washington, such as the expansion of personnel exchanges as well as trade, according to the officials.

``The two leaders would reaffirm the implementation of the Sept. 19 joint statement issued at the end of the fourth round of the six-party nuclear talks and ultimately put an emphasis on the peace regime of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula,’’ said a Chong Wa Dae official.

Roh and Bush confirmed similar principles in June, when Roh made a working visit to Washington to hold a summit. Officials in Seoul hope the envisioned declaration in Kyongju will be another milestone for the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.

The two Koreas are still technically at war. Their 1950-53 fratricidal conflict, in which China and the former Soviet Union backed the communist North while the U.S. and other Western powers supported the capitalist South, ended in a ceasefire instead of a peace treaty.

Eying a lasting peace regime after a half-century of confrontation with the North, South Korea sees the APEC forum in Pusan (Busan) as a good diplomatic opportunity since the top leaders of all four powers surrounding the peninsula will attend.

Roh is set to hold a summit with Chinese President Hu Jintao at the presidential office of Chong Wa Dae today. He will also meet with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Russian President Vladimir Putin in separate summits in Pusan on Friday and Saturday.

In his capacity as the host of the two rounds of APEC summit in Pusan attended by the heads of state of 21 APEC members, Roh plans to attract international support for the peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear impasse, according to the presidential office.

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr