Japanese Prime Minister, South Korean President Hold Talks

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and visiting South Korean President Kim Dae Jung met on Saturday to discuss bilateral ties and other issues of common concern.

At a meeting in Atami, a hot spring resort in Shizuoka Prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, Mori and Kim agreed to boost economic ties and mapped out a plan for cooperation in the field of information technology (IT), Kyodo News reported.

The two leaders adopted an eight-point joint initiative on IT that included bilateral dialogue on e-commerce and cooperation in the training of IT engineers.

They agreed to conclude an investment treaty by the end of this year, so that they may set up a new forum of experts to discuss a bilateral free trade agreement.

Meanwhile, they agreed to expand cultural exchange between the two countries and to co-host the 2002 World Cup soccer finals.

During the one-and-a-half-hour meeting, Mori and Kim also agreed to continue three-way cooperation with the United States in dealing with the Korean Peninsula issue.

Ideally, the three countries will maintain close contact so

that ties between the two Koreas, between Japan and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and between the United States and the DPRK will benefit all parties, Mori said at a joint press conference after the talks.

He suggested holding summit with DPRK leader Kim Jong Il to boost negotiations between Japan and the DPRK on normalizing diplomatic ties.

Kim, who arrived on Friday for a three-day visit, urged Mori to enact by the end of the year a bill giving permanent foreign residents in Japan the right to vote in local elections. South

Korea has repeatedly stated such a desire, since many of Japan's permanent local residents are Korean.

The bill, to be discussed during a 72-day extraordinary Diet (parliament) session which opened on Thursday, has already been opposed by some parliament members from Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party.



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