South Korea and Greece will consider opening a direct air route between Seoul and Athens after consultations with airline companies of the two countries, a senior South Korean official said Monday.

President Roh Moo-hyun and Greek President Karolos Papoulias discussed the matter during a summit here, Song Min-soon, chief presidential secretary for unification, foreign and security policy, told reporters after the summit.

The measure is to help increase personnel exchanges and cooperation in tourism between the two countries, said Song who is accompanying Roh.

In another development, Kang Shin-ho, chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), reiterated his call for granting amnesty to business people.

Meeting reporters before a South Korea-Greece business forum at a hotel here, Kang complained that businessmen were excluded from the amnesty the government granted to mark the Liberation Day on Aug. 15.

"What is of importance is to create circumstances under which businessmen can work harder," Kang said.

Following the summit, Seoul and Athens signed agreements on maritime cooperation and tourism.Roh was the first South Korean head of state to visit Greece since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1961.

During his three-day state visit, Roh also met with South Korean residents in Greece and the Greek prime minister.

After the visit, Roh flew to Romania for talks with Romanian President Traian Basescu on ways to improve bilateral relations and promote economic cooperation, especially in nuclear energy.

Chong Wa Dae secretaries said South Korea hopes to take part in Romania's nuclear power plant project at Cernavoda.

In the summit on Wednesday, Roh and Basescu agreed to focus on cooperation in information-technology, they said.

With the energy industry as one of its economic engines, Romania aims to be a major energy provider in the Balkans based on its natural resources, according to the officials.

Trade between South Korea and Romania reached about $460 million last year. It is the first time that a South Korean president has visited the European country. The two nations established formal ties in 1990.

After ending his trip to Romania, Roh will visit Finland to attend the sixth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

He will then fly to the United States for a summit with President George W. Bush in Washington on Sept. 14.