Leaders of South Korea and Italy voiced concern over North Korea's rocket launch plan Monday, urging the communist nation to back out of the provocative move and comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions, the presidential office said.

President Lee Myung-bak and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti made the appeal during a summit on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit that opened for a two-day run on Monday, the office said in a statement. Monti is one of more than 50 world leaders attending the anti-nuclear terrorism conference.

On bilateral issues, the two leaders expressed satisfaction that the two countries have moved their close cooperative ties forward, and agreed to work closely together to elevate economic cooperation through a free trade agreement with the European Union, the office said.

Lee praised Monti for leading Italy's efforts to pull itself out of a eurozone debt crisis, while the Italian leader said South Korea is contributing to international peace and safety through the nuclear summit, the office said. (Yonhap News)