South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said Thursday he expects "everything to go well" at the Beijing multilateral talks on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear issue.

He made the remarks at a meeting with visiting US Congressman Jim Leach, chairman of the House subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific.

"South Korea and Japan, as well as China, are cooperating. The circumstances are good, unlike the situation in the Middle East," Roh was quoted as saying by his spokesman Yoon Tai-young.

Leach said his visit to Seoul is intended to show the significance of the Beijing meeting and South Korea-US coordination, and also to express the full support of the US Congress for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and peaceful resolution of the nuclear crisis.

The US Congress and government agree fully with South Korea's position on the matter, Leach added.

Representatives from China, the DPRK, the United States, South Korea, Russia and Japan have been meeting in the Chinese capital since Wednesday for a three-day meeting with concerted efforts to end the nuclear row.

Leach arrived Seoul from Tokyo on Wednesday and planned to fly to China Thursday for the next leg of his Asia trip.
 

(Xinhua News Agency August 28, 2003)