Japan and South Korea will hold two days of fisheries talks beginning today in Tokyo to discuss fishing conditions in each other's exclusive economic zones next year, the Japanese Fisheries Agency said Tuesday.
Fishing for saury by South Korean boats in waters around the Russian-held islands claimed by Japan is part of the agenda for the talks, agency officials said.
Hiroshi Unno, director general of the Fisheries Agency's Resources Management Department, will lead the Japanese team for the talks.
Japan has protested the agreement South Korea reached with Russia last year that allows South Korean fishing boats to fish near the disputed islands off Hokkaido.
Japan asserts that Moscow should not grant fishing rights to third countries around the islands -- Kunashiri, Etorofu and Shikotan islands and the Habomai group of islets -- because it claims sovereignty over them. The islands were seized by Soviet troops at the end of World War II.
Separately, the Japan Fisheries Association opened private-sector talks with a South Korean fisheries cooperative Tuesday in Tokyo. over bilateral fishing issues.
The issues include queen crab fishing by South Korean boats around Takeshima, an island South Korea calls Tok-do, in the Sea of Japan. Both countries claim ownership of the island, but it has been under the control of South Korea since 1952.