SEOUL -- European and Asian leaders wrapped up a summit here Saturday with a pledge to launch a new round of world trade talks as soon as possible and a promise to work together more closely on political issues and fighting crime.
Participants at the Asia-Europe Meeting, a biennial summit of leaders from the 15 European Union nations and 10 Asian states, also adopted for the first time a specific commitment to protect human rights -- a traditionally divisive issue between Europe and Asia.
The "chairman's statement" by ASEM host, President Kim Dae Jung, included for the first time human rights as a common value for the 4-year-old organization. "Leaders committed themselves to promote and protect all human rights, including the right to development and fundamental freedoms, bearing in mind their universal indivisible and interdependent character," the statement issued at the end of the two-day summit said.