Meeting on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, the two leaders agreed that depending on the progress made in North Koreas nuclear disablement, the idea of signing a peace treaty between the two Koreas could be considered. South and North Korea are still technically at war with the 1950-53 Korean War ending without a peace agreement. Both heads of state have expressed optimism that the six-party nuclear talks will yield a completely denuclearized Korean peninsula.

U.S. President George W. Bush, right, looks on asPresident Roh Moo-hyun speaks during their meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Sydney, Australia on Friday./AP

Arriving in Sydney late Thursday, President Roh also met with Chinese President Hu Jintao earlier in the day. This was the 8th time the leaders have sat down together. Celebrating the 15th anniversary of diplomatic ties, presidents Roh and Hu promised to strengthen their strategic partnership. This partnership has led to bilateral trade of about 118 billion U.S. dollars last year.Fifteen years ago, the two-way volume of trade recorded just 6.4 billion U.S. dollars.The two leaders also agreed Friday to widen protection for investors. Korea and China signed an Investment Guarantee Agreement in 1992. As trade figures have seen a 19-fold rise during the past 15 years, the two countries have felt a need to revise certain clauses in the agreement, especially on investor protection and resolving investment disputes.

The-Korea U.S. Summit is significant in that the two countries share the same view on how to achieve permanent peace on the Korean peninsula. Another goal the two long-time foes share is to move their alliance forward by strengthening economic ties.

Arirang News.