Obama to meet with ROK's president on May 7

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama will meet his Republic of Korea (ROK) counterpart Park Geun-hye on May 7 to discuss bilateral ties and security issues, the White House announced on Monday.

The summit meeting at the White House comes at a time when the two countries celebrate their 60-year-old alliance.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the visit will highlight the "growth, breadth, depth and strength" of the bond as well as increased global cooperation, deep economic ties and strong people-to-people contacts between the two sides.

The denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, which is plunged into rising tensions in recent weeks, will top the talks between the two presidents, Carney said in a statement.

In his visit to Seoul on Friday, US Secretary of State John Kerry offered talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), vowing no recognition of the Asian nation as a nuclear power.

ROK's Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se also urged the DPRK to come to the negotiating table in response to the dialogue proposal by President Park.

In their upcoming talks, Obama and Park will review the progress made in strengthening bilateral economic ties and in "enhancing and modernizing" security cooperation, Carney said.

"President Park's visit underscores the importance of the US-ROK alliance as a linchpin of peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the Asia Pacific region, and of the central role of alliances in the president's Asia-Pacific rebalancing effort," Carney added.