New Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun agreed Thursday to hold a summit in November or even earlier, taking a step to mend bilateral relations that have been strained in recent years.
But Abe's being equivocal on whether he would visit Tokyo's war-related Yasukuni Shrine, a main bone of contention with Seoul, may not be the most prudent tack for re-establishing formal top-level talks.
The summit topic came up when the prime minister phoned Roh to thank him for the letter of congratulations he sent upon Abe's taking office Tuesday. Any top-level talks between the two countries would be the first since last Nov. 18, when then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Roh held a bilateral meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Busan, South Korea.