S. Korean president calls for closer ties with Japan

SEOUL, (AFP)

President Lee Myung-Bak on Saturday called for South Korea and Japan to stop feuding over their history and build ties to bind the two neighbours closer together.

In a speech marking the 89th anniversary of a 1919 popular uprising against Japanese colonial rule over the Korean peninsula, Lee said South Korea must not be caught up in disputes over history.

"We face too many challenges for us to look back. We should not let ourselves be bound by the past," he said.

Lee, who was inaugurated on Monday, said pragmatism should be the dominant theme in all fields ranging from politics and economics to security and diplomacy.

"South Korea and Japan should also try to foster a future-oriented relationship with a pragmatic attitude," he said.

"Historical truth must not be denied, but we can no longer afford to give up our future relations due to disputes over the past."

March 1, 1919 marked the beginning of nationwide protests against Japanese colonial rule. The uprising was brutally quashed by Japanese police and military forces, leaving thousands of casualties.

Japan's colonial rule of Korea lasted from 1910 to 1945.

Hours after his inauguration, Lee scheduled his first diplomatic meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and the two agreed to resume top-level visits and try to restart stalled free trade talks.

Lee, who was born in Osaka, has said that unlike his predecessors, he would not urge Japan to apologise for past atrocities.

Spokesmen for both sides said Lee plans to visit Japan in April and Fukuda was expected to come to Seoul in the second half of this year.

Relations soured during the 2001-2006 premiership of Japan's Junichiro Koizumi, who each year visited a shrine venerating Japanese war dead including war criminals.

No South Korean president has visited Japan since December 2004.

Seoul and Tokyo have often been at odds over disputed islets in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) and issues related to Japan's colonial past, including Japan's history text books and compensation for wartime sex slaves for Japanese troops.