Seoul wants Tokyo to face its war past

Mar 31, 2007, 11:11 GMT

Seoul/Cheju - South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon has repeated his country's call on Japan to appropriately deal with its war past, the Yonhap news agency reported Saturday.

The responsibility for 'removing the cloud over our head,' was with the people who lived 'here and now,' Song was quoted as saying at the start of a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso.

There were a number of issues to discuss, including 'problems between South Korea and Japan,' Aso said, according to Yonhap. He had earlier arrived for a two-day visit on the South Korean holiday island of Cheju.

Song's demand came in the wake of international criticism of remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on forced prostitution during the Second World War. Abe had said at the beginning of March that there was no proof women had been forced to work in Japanese military brothels.

Later, Abe confirmed Tokyo's regret for the suffering of the so- called 'comfort women,' but did not withdraw his earlier remarks.

Up to 200,000 women in Korea, China, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines were allegedly forced into prostitution by the Japanese army.

Song and Aso were expected to discuss further steps in the conflict over North Korea's nuclear weapons programme. The last round of six-nations talks to end the nuclear programme last week had broken down without results.

It is yet unclear when the talks between North Korea, the US, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia will be continued.