Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Republic of Korea (ROK) President Roh Moo-hyun failed to agree Monday over how to patch up ties frayed by disputes over their countries' bitter history, Roh said.

Seoul is angry at what it sees as Tokyo's failure to face up to its militarism during World War II, symbolized by Koizumi's annual visits to a shrine for Japanese war dead as well school history textbooks' glossing over Japan's wartime atrocities.

Speaking to reporters after the talks, Roh said he and Koizumi spent most of their time discussing history.

"We had a very candid and serious dialogue and made efforts to understand each other," he said. "But this failed to yield any agreements."

A Japanese official quoted Roh as telling Koizumi the Japanese leader's visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, where some convicted war criminals are honoured along with other Japanese war dead, constitute the "very heart" of the history dispute.

Koizumi said he understood Roh wanted him to stop the pilgrimage. But he said the visits were meant to show respect for the war dead and to vow never again to stage war.

Asked whether he would visit this year, Koizumi later told reporters it was not raised with Roh. The Japanese leader last paid respects at Yasukuni in January 2004.

Roh said he and Koizumi did agree to push for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to return to Six-Party Talks on its nuclear weapons programmes, but said that of the 2 hours meeting, history consumed about an hour and 50 minutes.

Roh said Koizumi had said he would consider a new war memorial without the historical baggage but made no promises.

Roh also said the two men had agreed their countries would set up a second history commission to follow on from one that finished a two-year study a year ago.

Source: China Daily