Japanese FM due in Seoul for talks on N. Korea, regional issues

SEOUL, Feb. 10 (Yonhap) -- Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada was set to
arrive here later Wednesday on a two-day visit for talks with his South Korean
counterpart Yu Myung-hwan on ways to improve ties between their countries and
bring North Korea back to nuclear negotiations.
Yu and Okada will hold their talks early Thursday, to be followed by a joint
press conference.
"The two ministers will discuss a variety of bilateral and regional issues,
including the six-party talks over the North Korean nuclear issue and ways to
increase their cooperation in the international community," a foreign ministry
official told reporters.
North Korea has been boycotting the nuclear negotiations, also attended by South
Korea, the United States, Japan, China and Russia, since late 2008.
Okada's visit to Seoul, first of its kind since he came into office last year,
also comes as the countries will mark the 100th anniversary this year of the
start of Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea.
South Korea's ambassador to Tokyo, Kwon Chul-hyun, said on Tuesday that the
Japanese government was mulling measures that would help the countries put their
past behind and start forming a new relationship that will guide them for the
coming 100 years.
Kwon, however, noted Tokyo would first have to take measures that will let every
South Korean see clearly that "the Japanese government's perception of history
has changed."
Seoul established diplomatic ties with Japan in 1965, but the relationship is
often strained by what many South Koreans believe are Japan's attempts to
whitewash its past wrongdoing.
The Japanese foreign minister is set to pay a courtesy call on South Korean
President Lee Myung-bak following his talks with Yu, according to Seoul's foreign
ministry.
He will return to Japan after also meeting with Prime Minister Chung Un-chan and
Unification Minister Hyun In-taek, Seoul's point man on North Korea.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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