TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Japan's finance minister said Friday he agreed with his South Korean counterpart to cooperate as "partners" in key international forums such as the Group of 20 largest industrialized and developing nations.
Yoshihiko Noda also told reporters that he asked South Korean Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan to open "full-fledged discussions" with Japan on a possible free trade pact.
Noda's comments come after the fourth annual talks between the two nations' senior finance officials.
"We came to share the view that, as key members of the G-20, it is important for us to cooperate as partners in dealing with global issues when we attend international meetings," Noda said. "We shared the feeling that we want to transform our relationship into one in which we would seek solutions to not only problems between the two nations but also international problems."
Roughly 50 South Korean officials were in Tokyo to exchange views on the global and national economic situations and on policy cooperation with their Japanese counterparts, according to Japan's finance ministry.
The finance ministries of East Asia's second- and third-largest economies agreed to hold annual talks in 2005 partly to improve political ties between the two countries, which had been strained by visits by former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to a war-linked shrine.
The previous meetings took place in 2006, 2007 and 2009.
-By Takashi Nakamichi
Source: http://online.wsj.com
Yoshihiko Noda also told reporters that he asked South Korean Finance Minister Bahk Jae-wan to open "full-fledged discussions" with Japan on a possible free trade pact.
Noda's comments come after the fourth annual talks between the two nations' senior finance officials.
"We came to share the view that, as key members of the G-20, it is important for us to cooperate as partners in dealing with global issues when we attend international meetings," Noda said. "We shared the feeling that we want to transform our relationship into one in which we would seek solutions to not only problems between the two nations but also international problems."
Roughly 50 South Korean officials were in Tokyo to exchange views on the global and national economic situations and on policy cooperation with their Japanese counterparts, according to Japan's finance ministry.
The finance ministries of East Asia's second- and third-largest economies agreed to hold annual talks in 2005 partly to improve political ties between the two countries, which had been strained by visits by former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to a war-linked shrine.
The previous meetings took place in 2006, 2007 and 2009.
-By Takashi Nakamichi
Source: http://online.wsj.com
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