SKorean President visits Kazakhstan, Russia to secure energy supplies

South Korean President, Roh Moo-hyun, has arrived in Kazakhstan on the first leg of a trip that will also take him to Russia. The aim of the visit is to secure energy supplies for resource-deficient South Korea. The world's 11th largest economy, South Korea imports most raw materials and all its energy, and wants to diversify oil and gas supplies away from the volatile Middle East to countries such as Russia and Kazakhstan. Mr Roh's four-day trip is the first in a series of profile-raising visits that will take him to a dozen countries by the end of the year.