Japan and South Korea will likely steer clear of disputes and seek closer economic ties during the Japanese premier's visit to Seoul from today.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's two-day trip resumes Tokyo and Seoul's "shuttle" diplomacy of mutual annual visits, which stagnated after a territorial dispute flared up in July and Mr Aso's predecessor abruptly resigned in September.
Mr Aso and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak have already met every month since October at international gatherings as they try to boost co-operation. The Japanese leader, who arrived in Seoul around midday, will hold formal talks with Lee on Monday.
South Korea has been hit hard by the global financial crisis. The won has been hammered by concerns that South Korea, the world's 13th biggest economy and Asia's fourth, is among the most vulnerable to the global financial turmoil.
Many analysts predict the economy will contract this year for the first time in 11 years by as much as 3 per cent.
Japan, the world's second-biggest economy, slid into recession in the July-September quarter and analysts say its GDP in the October-December period would likely have contracted the sharpest in 34 years.
The two countries, both major exporters, agreed last month on a currency swap deal of around $20 billion, which involves trading exclusively in the two countries' currencies.
Mr Aso and Mr Lee are expected to agree to bolster cooperation in battling the financial crisis and confirm the importance of preventing protectionism.
Both Japanese and South Korean foreign ministry officials said a long-running feud over a set of islands located about the same distance from both countries, called Dokdo in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese, is not on the agenda.
The islets lie near fertile fishing grounds and possible maritime deposits of lucrative natural gas hydrate.
But such disputes can easily flare up and strain ties between Japan and South Korea, often frayed by issues stemming mainly from Tokyo's often brutal 1910-45 colonisation of Korea.
Last week, Mr Aso (68) acknowledged in parliament that his family firm had used South Korean forced labourers and Allied POWs in a mine during World War Two.
The premier has said he had no personal knowledge of the mine since he was just a child at the time.
Reuters