Japan FM begins visit to South Korea on Thursday

TOKYO, January 13 (Itar-Tass) -- Deepening of a strategic dialogue
between Tokyo and Seoul will be the key topic of a visit of Japanese
Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara to South Korea which begins on Thursday.
This is his first visit to Seoul in the capacity of foreign minister.
According to Maehara, the main aim of his trip are efforts to deepen a
specific strategic dialogue in all most important issues of Japanese-South
Korean relations, including problems connected with North Korea. Earlier,
the Japanese foreign minister spoke out in favour of direct talks between
Japan and the DPRK on the basis of the Pyongyang Declaration signed in
2002 by North Korean Leader Kim Jong Il and Japanese Prime Minister of
that time Junichiro Koizumi, but admitted that it hadn't been defined yet
how exactly to move in the direction of the dialogue.
The Japanese foreign minister noted that Tokyo intends to hold a
dialogue with the DPRK irrespective of the destiny of the six-party talks
on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula which were actually frozen
since December 2008.
In Seoul, Maehara will hold meetings with Minister of Foreign Affairs
and Foreign Trade Kim Sung-hwan, National Defence Minister Kim Kwan-Jin
and Unification Minister Gyun In-taek, as well as make a visit to
President of the country Lee Myung-bak.
As of the beginning of this year, Tokyo has intensified its diplomatic
activity in the South Korean direction. National Policy Minister Koichiro
Gemba and Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa have already visited Seoul.
-0-ast