The alliance between South Korea and the United States will move beyond the peninsula and drastically expand to engage Northeast Asian and global issues, Seoul"s top foreign and security policymakers said yesterday.

"Korea and the United States must seek strategic win-win relations with extended interests for both, based on the traditional cooperation accumulated over the past 50 years. Both the range and the depth of the alliance must be deepened," Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told reporters.

He added the Seoul-Washington alliance must not be limited to the security of South Korea, but should also encompass such issues as the spread of democracy, human rights and environmental issues.

President Lee Myung-bak will visit the United States April 15-19 for a summit with U.S. President George W. Bush.

The two leaders will discuss upgrading the bilateral alliance "on the basis of shared values of freedom, democracy and the market economy," Lee"s spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said.

The Defense Ministry also said it would focus on broadening the scope of the Korea-U.S. alliance beyond the peninsula.

"We aim to develop a future-oriented alliance based on common values and interests between Korea and the United States. Beyond the matters on the Korean Peninsula, the alliance will contribute to the stability in Northeast Asia and peace in the world," the ministry reported to Lee.

The ministry yesterday gave a policy briefing to the new president, outlining its key principles for national defense over the next five years.

President Lee stressed the importance of the alliance with the United States, saying it is crucial to prevent war on the peninsula.

The ministry said it would craft future visions and concrete policies to build a broader partnership with the United States, which is committed to expanding prosperity and regional stability. It suggested it would increase communication between both countries" defense policymakers, aiming to promote trust between the allies.

The two countries will closely cooperate on the planned transition of wartime operational control through high-level channels such as the Security Consultative Meeting and the Military Committee Meeting, the ministry said.

The ministry also vowed to construct a solid posture of deterrence with the U.S. military, even after the United States relinquishes wartime control of the Korean armed forces in April 2012. It will endeavor to ensure integration of Korean and U.S. troops and U.S. troop augmentation in case of emergency.

The Foreign Ministry has set "restoring" the alliance with the United States as one of its top policy goals.

Yu said that there was a significant portion of the public who believe ties between the two countries have been damaged.

The ministry, in its report to President Lee on Tuesday, pledged to "restore" the alliance with Washington, apparently taking into consideration criticisms that the preceding Roh Moo-hyun government caused tension with the United States.

Lee bluntly criticized the ministry during the reporting session, saying that its performance in the past several years was disappointing.

"I believe the remarks were a message for us not to miss out on practical benefits for the sake of justification," said Yu, responding to Lee"s comments.


By Lee Joo-hee and Jin Dae-woong