South Korea, Japan hold talks amid tensions

Japan's point man on Northeast Asia met with his South Korean counterpart Tuesday in an apparent bid to improve ties frayed over territorial and historical issues, Seoul officials said. The meeting between Junichi Ihara, the director general of the Japanese foreign ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and Lee Sang-deok came amid heightened tensions sparked by Japan's recent string of nationalist remarks and actions. The Seoul foreign ministry did not disclose details of the meeting, including the agenda, only saying that it is part of the countries' usual exchanges. It marks the first direct-general level gathering of the neighbors after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine last December seriously inflamed public opinion in South Korea. The shrine, which honors Japanese war dead including war criminals from World War II, symbolizes Japan's imperialism of South Korea, a major victim of Japan's wartime aggression and brutalities. The media poured out speculation that the two neighbors would embark on efforts to mend their strained ties in the Tuesday meeting. The foreign ministry here, however, tried to play down the talks, with ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young saying in a briefing that "he is not aware of any connection between (the talks and tie-mending efforts)."    Cho said that the meeting took place only as part of a courtesy call by Ihara, who is visiting Seoul to attend a meeting of Japanese diplomatic establishments in South Korea. Seoul has long demanded Tokyo stop its troublesome behavior and take sincere steps to mend ties with Seoul first. The bilateral meeting also came a day after South Korea's Ambassador to Japan Lee Byung-kee held talks in Tokyo with Japan's Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki on ways to mend the bilateral ties. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry highlighted the importance of better Seoul-Tokyo relations during his Seoul visit last week amid concerns that the strained ties may impair trilateral military partnership among the three nations. Kerry also said that he plans to resolve the bilateral tensions before U.S. President Barack Obama's planned visit to Seoul and Tokyo in April. Japan's Kyodo News reported earlier Tuesday that the Japanese foreign minister has proposed a meeting with the South Korean counterpart. The foreign ministry in Seoul refused to respond to the offer, saying that the ministry has not officially taken it. Ihara, who also represents Japan in the long-dormant six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program, met with South Korea's envoy to the talks, Cho Tae-yong, earlier in the day to discuss the security issue, according to the ministry. Also in the briefing, spokesman Cho Tai-young denounced Japan for planning the controversial Takeshima Day event, which was first launched in 2005 as part of Japan's attempts to lay territorial claims to the easternmost South Korean islets of Dokdo. They are called Takeshima in Japan Last week, the foreign ministry in Seoul called on Japan to scrap its plan to hold the annual event slated for Feb. 22, with Ichita Yamamoto, Japan's minister on territorial affairs, responding to it earlier in the day that it is none of other nations' business. Seoul has also reprimanded the Abe government for its plan to send a cabinet member to the event. "Hosting a ceremony over another country's territory and even sending a government official to that only constitute an unpardonable action," Cho said, calling the Japanese plan "preposterous."    Dokdo has long been a recurring source of bilateral tensions between the countries, with Seoul dismissing Japan's claims on grounds that South Korea has reclaimed sovereignty over its territory, including Dokdo and many other islands around the Korean Peninsula, upon its independence from colonial Japan in 1945.