Seoul  - US President Barack Obama met his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung Bak in Seoul on Thursday on the final leg of his Asian tour.

At the top of the agenda for their talks were their joint efforts to convince North Korea to return to multilateral talks about its nuclear weapons programme.

Other subjects for discussion were the US-South Korean security alliance and the planned ratification of a free-trade deal.

The US administration plans to send its special representative for North Korea policy, Stephen Bosworth, to Pyongyang soon. The direct talks are aimed at restarting the six-party talks, which North Korea broke off in April.

China, South Korea, Russia and Japan also participate in the talks.

On his first Asian tour Obama has already visited Japan, Singapore, where he attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, and China.

After visiting a US military base near Seoul, the US president is due to fly home later on Thursday. (dpa)