Japan, S. Korea map out joint Afghan plans, reaffirm N. Korea strategy+

SEOUL, Feb. 11 Kyodo -
Japan and South Korea agreed Wednesday on concrete plans for joint assistance
for Afghan reconstruction in a step forward to realizing a ''mature
partnership'' and reaffirmed cooperation on North Korea policies as their
foreign ministers met in Seoul ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton's Asia tour next week.
Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone and his South Korean counterpart Yu
Myung Hwan criticized North Korea's recent aggressive remarks and moves as
''intentional acts to heighten tensions'' and urged Pyongyang to ''behave in a
way that would contribute to the region's stability,'' Yu said in a joint press
conference afterward.
The condemnation came amid U.S. and South Korean media reports on Wednesday
that North Korea appears to have further stepped up preparations to test launch
a ballistic missile.
At the end of their 70-minute talks, Yu informed Nakasone that in response to
Japan's requests, a meeting will be realized ''before long'' between family
members of a missing Japanese woman abducted by Pyongyang in 1978 and a former
North Korean agent believed to have taken Japanese lessons from her in the
North, Nakasone told reporters.
The decision by Seoul to openly help organize such as meeting marks a departure
from the reluctance shown by the previous administration to do so out of fears
of upsetting North Korea.
The two ministers said they also agreed that Japan and South Korea must work
together closely to overcome the global economic crisis, and decided to
jump-start working-level talks aimed at resuming stalled negotiations on a free
trade agreement by upgrading them to the deputy director general level.
Meanwhile, as in bilateral summit talks last month, the foreign ministers
refrained from discussing the longstanding bilateral disputes such as issues of
wartime history or sovereignty over the Takeshima islets.
The South Korean side, however, did inquire about the schedule for Japan's
reviewing of high school textbook guidelines this year, a Japanese Foreign
Ministry official said.
Reference to Japan's claim of Takeshima, known as Dokdo in South Korea,
introduced in junior high school guidelines last year had caused outrage in
Seoul.
Nakasone, who arrived in Seoul on Tuesday night, paid a courtesy call on
President Lee Myung Bak later in the afternoon. At the meeting, Lee reassured
Nakasone that his government will continue to support Japan's position on the
abduction issue and that it will do its utmost to help, Japanese Foreign
Ministry officials said.
As a follow-up on Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's visit to Seoul last month,
the foreign ministers agreed on details of joint assistance in providing
vocational training in Kabul by sending Japanese and South Korean experts
there, and supporting soybean plantation and other agricultural development
projects in Afghanistan, Nakasone said.
The on-the-ground cooperation, the first of its kind between the two neighbors
which are still burdened by longstanding historical and territorial bilateral
disputes, will serve as a starting point for joint contribution to global
issues and a symbolic tool for fostering the ''mature partnership'' envisioned
by the top leaders.
Some observers also saw it as a move to please the new U.S. administration, as
President Barack Obama has indicated his priority on Afghanistan.
The two ministers also agreed to close cooperation in antipiracy operations in
waters off Somalia, such as considering the exchange of information and
coordination of escort operations for both nations' vessels, Yu said.
Ahead of Clinton's visit to the region from Monday, Nakasone and Yu reaffirmed
the importance of close trilateral cooperation with the Obama administration
and the need for progress in the denuclearization of North Korea through the
six-party talks.
''In order to realize a verifiable denuclearization of North Korea, the two
nations will continue to work closely together at the six-party talks as well
as cooperate with the new U.S. administration and other nations involved,'' Yu
said.
By the same token, Nakasone said there is a need for Tokyo, Seoul and
Washington to stand united, apparently keeping in mind recent moves by
Pyongyang which declared it would scrap a peace agreement with the South and
reportedly is preparing to test a ballistic missile.
Nakasone said Japan was encouraged by South Korea's reassurance of its support
on resolving the abduction issue, but both ministers declined to give specifics
on when and where the meeting between former North Korean agent Kim Hyon Hui,
currently in the South, with family members of missing abductee Yaeko Taguchi
will take place.
Kim, convicted in the 1987 fatal bombing of a South Korean airliner but later
freed under a presidential pardon, is believed to have received Japanese
language lessons from Taguchi, who was abducted in 1978, during her agent
training in North Korea and has expressed her wish to meet the family members.
Touching on global economic issues, the two ministers agreed to cooperate
toward a successful financial summit in London on April 2.
The two nations will also step up cooperation to reduce marine litter and
manage fisheries resources in the Sea of Japan.
In efforts to deepen mutual understanding through human exchanges, Seoul agreed
to consider positively Nakasone's proposal to extend for another 10 years a
joint government scholarship program for 1,000 South Korean students to study
science and engineering at Japanese universities, the official said.
Nakasone and Yu reconfirmed in Wednesday's talks that Lee will visit Japan ''at
an appropriate time'' this year. In response to Nakasone's invitation, Yu also
agreed to visit Japan at an early date.
Bilateral ties between the two neighbors have recovered over recent years after
a difficult period during Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's term in office
from 2001 to 2006.
In reflection of the improved ties, the two nations' top leaders have met five
times since Lee took office a year ago and frequent high-level exchanges have
accelerated since the resumption of the so-called ''shuttle diplomacy.''
==Kyodo
2009-02-11 23:15:57