South Korea, Japan set for summit to improve ties

Visiting Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will hold summit talks later on Wednesday to try to ease strained relations with South Korea, and will return historic Korean books in a goodwill gesture. Noda, making his first visit to Japan's former colony since taking office, was to meet President Lee Myung-Bak after a visit to the national cemetery in Seoul. Officials and media reports said possible renewed negotiations on a free trade deal, an increase in exchanges and North Korea's nuclear programme would be on the agenda. More contentious issues, such as the two countries' competing claims to tiny Seoul-controlled islands in the Sea of Japan (East Sea), may also be raised. Lee and Noda will also discuss expanding a $3 billion bilateral currency swap facility designed to bolster their financial markets from external shocks, a Korean government official told Dow Jones Newswires. Japan has long pressed to reopen talks on a free trade pact with South Korea, especially in light of Seoul's agreements with the United States and the European Union. On North Korea, Tokyo and Seoul see eye-to-eye. They and Washington say Pyongyang must show it is serious about scrapping its atomic arsenal before six-party nuclear disarmament negotiations can resume. But disputes that have lingered since Japan's harsh 1910-45 colonisation still remain. This year a row over the islands -- known as Dokdo in Korea and Takeshima in Japan -- flared up again when flag carrier Korean Air mounted a test flight over them. Three conservative Japanese lawmakers who planned a trip near the islands to reassert their country's claim were barred from South Korea in August. The same month the South lodged a strong protest against Japan's 2011 defence white paper, which describes the islands as Japanese territory. Seoul also complains that its neighbour's school textbooks distort their shared history. And it wants to discuss compensation for Japan's use of Korean women as military sex slaves during World War II. Historians say up to 200,000 women, mostly Koreans, were forced into sexual servitude in Japanese military brothels during World War II. Japan says all colonial issues were settled in a 1965 compensation deal that led to the normalisation of relations. To sweeten the mood, Noda brought back five volumes of archives from Korea's Joseon dynasty, which were to be handed over during the summit. By December Japan is to return the remaining 1,200 volumes, which it looted during its colonial rule. The Korea JoongAng Daily said Noda's decision to pick Seoul as his first destination for a diplomatic tour "signifies the strategic importance of Korea and its high place on his agenda". It called on Seoul's government to respond by closely weighing the pros and cons of a free trade agreement. "A Korea-Japan FTA would carry great significance as it can mark a first step toward a bigger future: trilateral FTAs among Korea, Japan and China," the paper said.