U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has reportedly expressed regrets over the omission of South Korea from a list of allies in the U.S.-led war in Iraq during U.S. President George W. Bush's Republican convention speech last week.

The presidential office in Seoul said that Rice had conveyed the sentiments during a telephone conversation Thursday with National Security Adviser Kwon Chin-ho.

Cheong Wa Dae quoted Rice as saying that the omission was not intentional and that the United States is grateful for South Korea's contribution to the U.S.-led war on terror.

Cheong Wa Dae said the telephone call between the top security advisers of the two countries came at Rice's request.

In an acceptance speech after his recent nomination at the Republican National Convention, Bush named Britain, Japan, El Salvador and several other countries as contributors to the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq and Afghanistan, but failed to mention South Korea, prompting concerns here that the omission might reflect a possibly deteriorating relationship between the two allies.

South Korea has committed the third-largest troop contingent in Iraq after the United States and Britain.