Japan, South Korea to hold summit talks in Seoul late June

Japan and South Korea agreed Friday to hold a summit between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun in Seoul in late June, Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said.

After meeting with South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ban Ki Moon in Kyoto, central Japan, Machimura told reporters that the two sides shared the view that bilateral relations are heading in an amicable direction.

Machimura indicated he and Ban agreed on the need to deal with the sovereignty of an disputed island in the Sea of Japan "in a level-headed manner". The island is called Takeshima in Japan and Tokto in South Korea. The issue has been a source of friction between the two countries since earlier this year.

Machimura also said Ban highly rated a speech Koizumi delivered in an Asia-Africa summit in Jakarta last month. Koizumi apologized for Japan's aggression to other Asian countries before and during World War II in the speech.

But Ban told reporters separately that he also stressed during the meeting that it was important for the Japanese leader to follow up on what he said in the speech.

Machimura and Ban agreed the stalled six-party talks on nuclear issue of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) should be resumed at an early date, Machimura said.

Six nations -- DPRK and South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia -- held the third round of talks in June last year but a fourth round failed to take place in September.

Machimura also said he indicated during the meeting with Ban that the DPRK nuclear issue might be referred to the UN Security Council if the six countries cannot make substantial progress on the issue. Ban expressed no clear reaction to the position, Machimura said.

The two met on the sidelines of the two-day Asia-Europe Meeting7th Foreign Ministers' Meeting, which began in the ancient Japanese city Friday evening.

Source: Xinhua