TOKYO, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said on Monday that it was important for Tokyo and Seoul to hold sincere discussions in a bid to settle issues that both sides remain at odds over.
"It is necessary to hold sincere discussions to seek full-fledged resolutions over outstanding issues between the states," Lee told political and business leaders from Japan and South Korea in a message delivered at a meeting in Tokyo.
Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, who serves as chairman of Japan's committee, said that it was important for promises to be kept and for both sides to be mindful of ties being handed over to future generations.
"Relations between Japan and South Korea are in the most severe situation. But we have to hand over ties our predecessors have established to the next generation," said Aso, who also serves as Japan's finance minister.
The latest rift between both sides began in October last year when South Korea's top court ordered a Japanese firm to pay compensation for the forced labor of South Koreans during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.
Japan maintains the matter was settled by a 1965 pact, which saw Tokyo pay Seoul 500 million U.S. dollars under the banner of economic cooperation.
The dispute, however, continued and spread to trade issues, with both sides tightening export restrictions and removing each other from their preferential lists of trade partners.
The spat also spilled over into security areas, with Seoul cancelling the General Security of Military Information Agreement, before deciding to extend the pact with Japan just hours before the deal was due to expire at midnight on Friday.
