Japan PM keen on S. Korea free trade talks: report
AFP
Japan PM keen on S. Korea free trade talks: report
22 February 2008
TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is keen to relaunch stalled talks for a bilateral free trade deal with South Korea as soon as possible, Jiji Press reported Friday.
In a group interview with South Korean media ahead of the inauguration of new President-elect Lee Myung-Bak, Fukuda also emphasized the importance of solid future bilateral ties, the report said.
"I want to conclude (a free trade pact) at the earliest time possible. I hope that preparatory talks toward fully fledged negotiations can be resumed at the earliest time possible," he said, according to Jiji.
The two nations began in December 2003 negotiations for an economic partnership agreement, but the talks have made no progress since November 2004.
Fukuda added he was considering inviting South Korea to the Group of Eight summit, which Japan will host this summer.
Japan has welcomed the election of Lee, a conservative who has promised to seek a new relationship with Japan, which brutally ruled the Korean peninsula between 1910 and 1945.
Lee has said he would not seek apologies from Tokyo over the past, in a break from his predecessors including incumbent President Roh Moo-Hyun.
Relations between the neighbours soured during the 2001-2006 premiership of Japan’s Junichiro Koizumi, who each year visited a shrine venerating Japanese war dead including war criminals.
"By squarely facing the past, and reflecting on the points where we need to reflect on, we must make efforts so that we can build future bilateral relations without mistakes," Fukuda said.
"I think it’s also necessary to have the cooperation and understanding of South Korean people to build a mature relationship," he said.
