The President and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hold summit talks at the G8 summit in L''Aquila, Italy, on July 9 (Italy time).

The President and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed on Thursday July 9 (Italy time) that five member countries of the six-party talks should form five-way consultations, including all the original six parties except North Korea, in order to help denuclearize the latter.

At the extended Group of eight (G-8) summit held in the central Italian city of L''Aquila, the two leaders held summit talks and agreed that the two countries will closely cooperate with other members of the six-party talks in order to make Pyongyang come back to dialogue for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, according to Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye.

The President and Medvedev also agreed that UN security resolution 1874 on North Korean missile testing and nuclear arms has been well implemented, mentioning North Korean cargo ship Kang Nam, which was initially headed for the presumed destination of Myanmar but later changed its route to the North. They reaffirmed that the UN security resolution is a measure to return Pyongyang to the negotiation table, adding that North Korea''s bad behavior will only worsen the situation.

The two leaders further agreed to make concerted efforts to maintain the volume of bilateral trade, which recorded US$20 billion last year, despite the global economic crisis.

They expressed satisfaction with the two countries'' joint economic cooperation projects, such as sending Russian natural gas to Korea, which the two leaders agreed to carry out during President Lee''s trip to Russia in 2008.

The President asked his Russian counterpart to pay a visit to Korea and Medvedev replied that he would handle the details of a future Korean visit through diplomatic channels between the two countries.