President Roh Moo-hyun will hold summit talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev Monday. After their talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana, the two leaders will sign a joint statement on bilateral cooperation, with special focus on the energy sector.

A senior government official accompanying Roh says the summit talks will boost bilateral cooperation in the development of natural resources, including petroleum and uranium, as well as in the energy field.

Roh and Nazarbaev are also expected to declare their nations’ commitment to developing atomic powers for peaceful purposes.

On his first day in Kazakhstan Sunday, Roh met with some 90 ethnic Koreans residing in the central Asian country. During the dinner meeting, Roh pledged to exert his best efforts for the reunification of the two Koreas, saying he is confident that inter-Korean rapprochement will lead to the establishment of permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Roh said that despite many hardships, Seoul is pushing to open up the communist North and is continuously supporting the impoverished Stalinist state.

Roh is scheduled to fly to Moscow later Monday to hold summit talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the following day.