Park Jung Soo, South Korean foreign and trade minister, and Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi agreed March 16 to hold their first meeting as early as possible, ministry officials said.
The two ministers did not agree on the venue and date for the meeting, but it is rumored that Obuchi will probably visit South Korea over the weekend. In a telephone conversation, Park told Obuchi that he hopes to promote cooperation with him to improve bilateral relations. Ties between Japan and South Korea have deteriorated since late January, when Japan decided to unilaterally terminate a 1965 fisheries pact.
The two countries held negotiations for about two years in an attempt to forge a new treaty to demarcate economic-zone waters. But the effort failed due to a dispute over ownership claims of the Takeshima islets in the Sea of Japan, known as Tok-do in South Korea.