SEOUL, Dec 20: South Korea’s president-elect Roh Moo-hyun on Friday called for changes in the country’s half-century alliance with the United States, but pledged to work closely with Washington resolve a crisis over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.

Roh, whose victory in Thursday’s presidential election was a vote of confidence in outgoing President Kim Dae-jung’s “sunshine policy” of engagement with the communist North, said he would convey to Washington his suggestions for amendments to a pact that dates back to the 1950-53 Korean war.

“The traditional friendship and alliance between ROK (Republic of Korea) and the United States must mature and advance in the 21st century,” Roh said at a news conference after a campaign in which he vowed to continue an engagement policy with North Korea but seek more autonomy from Washington.

The pact governs the status of the 37,000 US troops in South Korea, a focal point of anti-American protests that followed a June traffic accident in which a US military vehicle crushed two schoolgirls to death.

Roh, 56, tapped into the Internet generation to defeat his older conservative rival, Lee Hoi-chang, whose more hawkish views on North Korea are closer to the US line.

But Roh, who like Kim advocates a policy of constructive engagement to bring about reconciliation on the Korean peninsula, promised to work closely with Washington to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

US PUTS BEST FACE: The United States on Thursday put the best face on the election of the liberal human rights activist and labour lawyer, calling it an opportunity to forge new ties.

“South Korea is a close friend and ally of the United States, and (President Bush) looks forward to working closely with President-elect Roh as the United States and the Republic of Korea address the many challenges and opportunities that we face together,” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.—Reuters