Japan premier leaves for talks with South Korean president

Oct 18, 2011, 12:04 GMT

Tokyo - Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda left for Seoul Tuesday evening to hold talks with South Korean President Lee Myung Bak on North Korea and free trade.

The two leaders were expected to discuss North Korea's nuclear weapons programme and stalled negotiations on signing a bilateral free trade agreement.

Noda told reporters before his departure that he would discuss with Lee 'a future-oriented relationship' between the two countries, including bilateral economic ties.

Japan occupied the Korean Peninsula from 1910 to 1945, and the two countries' shared history has often dominated their modern ties.

The premier was also likely to renew Japan's invitation for Lee to visit Tokyo by the end of the year when they meet Wednesday.

Japan originally planned a state visit by Lee for this autumn, but preparations have been delayed in part because of Seoul's frustration over Tokyo's muted response to the issue of compensation for Korean women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers in World War II, the Kyodo News agency reported.

Japan said the issue had been resolved by a 1965 treaty that normalized diplomatic ties between the two countries.

During Wednesday's meeting, Noda was to hand over five volumes of ancient royal archives taken by Japan from Korea during its colonial rule of the peninsula.

Japan agreed in November to return 1,205 volumes of Korean archives, including royal records of the Joseon Dynasty, and completed necessary legal procedures to hand them over by December 10 at the latest.

The two leaders held their first talks in September in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session.