South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun Monday embarked on a nine-day trip to India for visit and Vietnam to attend a biennial summit of Asian and European leaders in Hanoiand discuss the enhancement of ties with the two nations, reported South Korean Yonhap News Agency.

Roh will arrive at New Delhi later Monday on the first leg of his two-country tour.

On Tuesday, Roh will hold a summit meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to discuss ways to increase bilateral political, economic and cultural relations and sign agreements on extradition and judicial cooperation, said Yonhap.

While in India, Roh will focus on helping South Korean firms make inroads into the emerging Asian market, Yonhap said.

India is the fourth-biggest market for South Korean firms after the United States, China and Japan in terms of purchasing power.

Roh will then fly to Hanoi Wednesday for the two-day summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) which begins Friday.

Prior to the official opening of the ASEM, Roh will attend a pre-summit meeting of Asian leaders Thursday to discuss cooperation at the ASEM.

The ASEM will include three summit sessions during which participants are to discuss the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, terrorism and other international political issues, globalization and economic partnership between Asia and Europe as well as information technology and cultural diversity, according to Yonhap.

At the end of the sessions, the Asian and European leaders will likely adopt statements to express their consensus on the issues.

On the sidelines of the ASEM, Roh will have one-on-one meetings with the leaders of Germany and the European Union.

At the end of the ASEM, Roh will begin a three-day state visit to Vietnam, during which, he will hold summit meeting with Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong.

In Vietnam, Roh is to continue his "sales diplomacy" by asking Hanoi to help South Korean firms make inroads into the Southeast Asian nation in terms of Internet, CDMA and other state-of-the-art products and development of oil wells in Vietnam.
 
(Xinhua News Agency October 4, 2004)