President Roh Moo-hyun will depart for South America Friday.

He is slated to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Chile next Saturday after making state visits to Argentina and Brazil. Ahead of arriving in South America, Roh will first visit Los Angeles.

Roh is scheduled to hold separate summit talks with U.S President George W. Bush on the sidelines of the two-day APEC forum and seek ways to promptly resume stalled six-way nuclear talks and the status of the South Korea-U.S. alliance.

He will also meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin at the forum to exchange views on Korean Peninsular affairs and ways to strengthen cooperation in economic and trade sectors.

On his return home, Roh is also slated to make a brief stop in Hawaii.