10月7日，亚欧会议在越南河内举行扩大仪式，柬埔寨、老挝、缅甸以及今年五月份加入欧盟的波兰、捷克、匈牙利等国被接纳为亚欧会议新成员。这是亚欧会议自1996年召开以来首次进行扩大，其成员数量由26个增加到39个，人口总数达到24亿，国内生产总值超过了全球的一半。

从7日起，来自亚洲13个国家及欧洲25国的政府与企业界代表就促进双方贸易、金融、投资及旅游业展开了讨论，同时关于禁止朝鲜半岛核试验一事也是重要议题之一。外电报道如下：The fifth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) will open in Hanoi, Vietnam with the participation¹ of 39 leaders, including the President Roh Moo-hyun. Holding summit talks three times on Friday and Saturday, the leaders will announce the results in the form of a "chairman's declaration." In the declaration is expected to be included the support of participating nations for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear issue. Denuclearization是denuclearize的名词形式，表示“使非核武器化；禁止核武器生成或试验；撤除核武器”。