South Korean President Lee Myung Bak will hold talks Sunday with Prime Minister Taro Aso in Tokyo on responses to a U.N. Security Council resolution to punish North Korea and other issues, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said.
"As South Korea is one of our most important neighbors and shares basic values with Japan, it is necessary for us to cooperate to boost future-oriented and mature partnership through shuttle diplomacy," Kawamura said Monday.
The two leaders are expected to discuss how they will impose sanctions on North Korea in line with the U.N. resolution adopted this month following Pyongyang's nuclear test in May.
Lee's visit was initially expected for Sunday and Monday but was changed to a one-day trip as speculation mounts that North Korea is preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile.