Japan will send Fukushiro Nukaga, head of the Japan-South Korea parliamentarians' league, as its special representative to a state funeral for former South Korean President Kim Young-sam scheduled for Thursday, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
Nukaga, a former finance minister and a senior Liberal Democratic Party politician, will depart on Thursday to attend the funeral that will take place at the parliament house in Seoul.
"I would like to express my respect for (former) President Kim Young-sam's contribution to (the development of) Japan-South Korea relations," Nukaga told reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the prime minister's office.
Amid signs of a thaw in chilly ties following the first talks between Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Nov. 2 in Seoul, Nukaga said he expects to meet with South Korean senior lawmakers and government officials while in Seoul.
Abe asked Nukaga to lay the groundwork for advancing bilateral relations, according to Nukaga.
Kim, who was in power from 1993 to 1998 as South Korea's first civilian leader after decades of military rule, died Sunday of blood poisoning and acute heart failure. He was 87.