January 15, 2011
SEOUL (AFP) - Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara arrived in Seoul on Saturday for talks focusing on North Korea and other regional issues, a Japanese embassy official said.
During the day-long trip he will meet counterpart Kim Sung-Hwan, unification and
defence ministers and pay a courtesy call to President Lee Myung-Bak, the official said.
Maehara is travelling to South Korea for the first time since taking office last September.
His trip comes as the two neighbours seek closer diplomatic and military ties against threats posed by North Korea to regional security.
The North shelled a border island in late November, killing four South Koreans including two civilians, sending regional tensions soaring.
