Japan and South Korea resumed on Monday a sub-Cabinet-level strategic dialogue to improve bilateral ties that have been strained due to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine and differences in historical perception.

The meeting in Tokyo was attended by Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi and South Korean Vice Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Yu Myung Hwan. Such dialogue last took place in October in Seoul.

It was unclear whether the dialogue would yield any fruit given South Korea's stance, highlighted by a speech last week by President Roh Moo Hyun, who again criticized Koizumi's shrine visits and implicitly criticized moves in Japan to amend the pacifist Constitution.

South Korea, which suffered under Japanese control before and during World War II, opposes the shrine visits as Yasukuni honors 14 Class-A war criminals along with Japan's war dead.