Japanese PM arrives in South Korea for two-day visit

Seoul: Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso arrived in South Korea on Sunday for a two-day visits for talks on economic cooperation and North Korea

Aso will meet South Korean business leaders and visit a Seoul university laboratory on Sunday.

He is scheduled to meet President Lee Myung-bak on Monday to discuss economic cooperation and international efforts to end the North Korean nuclear standoff.

Shortly after his arrival, Japan's premier visited the National Memorial Board, paid a silent tribute and laid white flowers at a memorial monument there. The cemetery has graves and memorial tablets for about 167,500 Korean leaders, soldiers and other citizens.

Lee has called for better ties with Japan and has held five summits with Japanese leaders. He has resumed top-level visits, and has also said he will not demand a new apology from Tokyo over its 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula.

Lee's diplomatic overtures toward Japan took a hit in July when Tokyo announced it would recommend that a government teaching manual include Japan's claim to uninhabited islets claimed by both countries.

South Korea temporarily recalled its ambassador in Tokyo and heightened security near the islets. Activists staged near-daily protests in front of the Japanese Embassy and many scholars and newspaper editorials demanded Lee toughen policy on Japan.

Despite such hiccups, growing economic ties are bringing the two countries closer. South Korea and Japan are major commercial partners, with two-way trade reaching $82.6 billion in 2007.