Hatoyama, S. Korea pres. agree to cooperate on N. Korea, aduction

SEOUL, Aug. 31 Kyodo -
South Korea's President Lee Myung Bak talked over the phone with Yukio
Hatoyama, Japan's next presumed prime minister, on Monday and they agreed to
work together on North Korea's nuclear issues and its abduction of foreign
nationals, South Korea's presidential office said.
Hatoyama told Lee that Japan, the United States and South Korea should work
closely together to resolve these issues, the office said.
Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan won a landslide victory in Japan's general
elections Sunday, crushing Prime Minister Taro Aso's Liberal Democratic Party.
Hatoyama is expected to be elected Japan's next prime minister.
Lee sent a congratulatory message to Hatoyama earlier Monday and called for an
''unshakable and mature partnership'' between the two countries.
''I expect to have a close cooperation on developing relations between Korea
and Japan to an unshakable and mature partnership,'' Lee was quoted by
presidential spokeswoman Kim Eun Hye as saying in his message.
Lee said he is ''confident that Japan will greatly contribute to peace and
co-prosperity of the international community'' under a DPJ government.
South Korea's Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry also expressed hope the DPJ's
election victory will promote bilateral relations.
''The (South Korean) government anticipates the launch of a new government in
Japan will become an opportunity to further improve relations between Korea and
Japan,'' ministry spokesman Moon Tae Young told a press briefing.
Moon said South Korea has ''evaluated the DPJ's placing emphasis on relations
with (South) Korea and taken an active attitude on promoting bilateral
relations.''
Meanwhile, Japanese affairs experts said Japan's Korea policy is likely to
change following the DPJ victory that ended the Liberal Democratic Party's more
than 50 years of virtual one-party rule in Japan.
''The DPJ has put emphasis on Asia and relations with China and Korea,'' Yun
Duk Min, professor at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security in
Seoul, told the Korea Times.
''Besides, it has taken a progressive stance toward past history. I think this
is very encouraging and will improve bilateral ties,'' Yun said.
Japanese politicians' remarks glorifying its 1910-45 colonial rule of the
Korean Peninsula have long aroused anti-Japanese sentiment in South Korea.
And Japanese leaders' visits to Yasukuni Shrine, a Tokyo Shinto shrine that
honors convicted war criminals along with Japan's war dead, are viewed by South
Koreans as a symbol of the country's militarist past and have led to massive
streets protests.
In a commentary, the Chosun Ilbo said Hatoyama has pledged not to visit
Yasukuni Shrine and that may remove a hurdle that has stood in the way of
improving Seoul-Tokyo ties.
Hatoyama chose South Korea as his first country to visit and met with President
Lee in June after taking the helm of the DPJ in May, the newspaper's commentary
said.
Despite some optimistic views on Seoul-Tokyo relations, the commentary said,
the territorial dispute over the Dokdo islets, known as Takeshima in Japan, may
still keep South Korea and Japan locked in confrontation.
On the issue of achieving North Korea's denuclearization, Lee Myon Woo, senior
research fellow at the Sejong Institute near Seoul, said the DPJ should not
rush.
''The nuclear issue is not a matter only for South Korea and Japan. South Korea
is also taking a wait-and-see approach, so Japan should not hurry,'' Lee told
the Korea Times. ''Besides, North Korea may not give up its nuclear ambitions
so easily. So, this is not going to be an attractive issue for the party to
focus on.''
==Kyodo