WASHINGTON, Dec 20 Kyodo (EDS: AD...

WASHINGTON, Dec 20 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING cites 3RD PARA, BACKGROUND, LAST PARA)

southward Korea's President-elect Roh Moo Hyun forward Friday accepted U.S. President George W Bush's invitation to visit the United States in the near subsequent time White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

Bush was calling Roh to furnish his congratulations following Roh's victory in the toward the south Korean presidential election on Thursday.

Bush and Roh ''agreed to work closely toward peace in the Korean Peninsula and further strengthen US-South Korean alliance,'' Fleischer told reporters.

The pair leaders also agreed to detain talks between senior regulation officials to discuss closer bilateral relations and issues concerning the Korean Peninsula.

Roh who will be inaugurated in succession Feb. 25, has vowed to continue the ''sunshine'' policy of engagement with North Korea launched by the agency of outgoing South Korean President Kim Dae Jung

The Bush administration has been taking a tough stance in succession North Korea for its nuclear arms programs.

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