Summit meetings scheduled with US, Russian and Chinese leaders Now that Korea has assumed the presidency of the 13th APEC Summit 2005 to be held in Busan, President Roh Moo-hyun has assumed an extremely important role, to ensure a successful summit, while chairing the Nov. 18 to 19 APEC Summit. President Roh is expected to focus APEC leaders' attention on the special way in which Korea has grafted the nation's tradition and culture onto the strongest IT infrastructure in the world. A key aide at the Blue House (the Presidential Residence of the Republic of Korea) forecasts that a progress report on the Bogor goals as well as setting the Busan Roadmap, a plan for the years to come, will be completed in the forthcoming APEC Summit 2005. It is expected that President Roh will push for the adoption of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) Special Declaration by supporting the upcoming WTO DDA negotiations in Hong Kong with the Busan APEC Summit as an impetus, reconfirming Korea's backing for APEC's trade and investment liberalization. The Blue House aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, added that after President Roh aimed to win support of other APEC member economies about the necessity of concluding the DDA negotiations by the end of next year, Roh is expected to stress that consensus among member countries regarding key points in the dispute through negotiation before the December 2005 WTO meeting in Hong Kong is important. Another significant aspect of the Busan 2005 APEC Summit is that it is an opportunity for member economies to assess the results of trade and investment liberalization in the Asia-Pacific region to date since the Bogor Goals adoption in Indonesia in 1994. In conjunction with this, President Roh is expected to be able to reconfirm political will in the interests of trade/investment activation within the region by preparing guiding principles for the sake of accomplishing the Bogor Goals through intermediate progress reports, in addition to boosting continuous awareness of Busan and Korea as the venue of the APEC 2005 Summit by means of adopting the Busan Roadmap. The Busan 2005 APEC Summit is expected to contribute to strengthening economic technology collaboration and resolving economic disparities as well. APEC Summits are intended to promote cooperation for the sake of narrowing differences in quality of life within the region, accomplishing cooperative growth and prosperity like through the Osaka Summit Declaration, Japan in 1995, which described 'economic technology collaboration' as one of the two axes for the pursuit of APEC cooperative goals. President Roh will be holding separate meetings with key APEC leaders, including President George W. Bush of the United States, Chinese President Hu Jintao, President Vladimir Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation and so forth on the sidelines of the forthcoming APEC Busan 2005. First and foremost, President Roh and President Bush will hold the Korea-U.S. summit in Gyongju on Nov. 17 to discuss major pending issues, including advancing the Korea-U.S. alliance, North Korea's nuclear programs, and reinforcing economic and trade cooperation, as well as other matters of common interest. It will be President Bush's first visit to Korea since the inauguration of the Participatory Government. President Vladimir Putin of Russia will also be on a working visit to Korea on the occasion of his participation in the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. The two Summits hold a Korea-Russia summit in Busan on Nov. 19 to discuss how to expand substantive cooperation between the two countries for further enhancement of comprehensive partnerships based on mutual trust and to exchange opinions on issues of common interest including North Korean nuclear problems, the political environment on the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia, and cooperation on international arenas such as the UN. Chinese President Hu Jintao will be making a state visit to Korea Nov. 16-17 at the invitation of President Roh Moo-hyun prior to his participation in the APEC Leaders' Meeting. Presidents Roh and Hu will hold their summit at the Blue House to discuss substantial measures for bolstering cooperative relations, as well as issues involving the Six-Party Talks, the Korean Peninsula and other regional developments.