A group of visiting South Korean lawmakers called Monday on the Liberal Democratic Party to take action in respect of unresolved bilateral issues, including those related to history.

Moon Hee Sang, who heads the South Korean side of a bilateral lawmakers' association, urged LDP Secretary General Shinzo Abe during a meeting to step up efforts to allow permanent South Korean residents of Japan to vote in local-level elections.

Moon also asked for help from the LDP, headed by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, to allow South Korean tourists to visit Japan without visas, the South Korean lawmakers said.

Abe was quoted as telling Moon that the latter issue will be resolved shortly, adding that the two nations should hold further talks on other pending issues.

The issues discussed by Abe and Moon included a row over a junior high school history textbook that South Korea and China say glosses over Japan's military atrocities in neighboring parts of Asia during the war.