Japanese gov't seeks cooperation with S. Korea's new president: PM

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday said he hopes to cooperate with South Korea's new president Moon Jae-in in dealing with issues pertaining to tension on the Korean Peninsula.

Abe made the remarks during a meeting of government and ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) officials.

Abe said for his part, he is keen to further develop future-oriented relations with Seoul.

The Japanese leader also said Japan plans to continue to work in close alliance with the United States, South Korea, China and Russia to continue to urge the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to "abandon its missile and nuclear ambitions and to refrain from further provocations."

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said South Korea remained an important neighbor which shares strategic interests with Japan.

Japan is still at odds with South Korea, however, over "comfort women" statues erected to memorialize the women coerced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army during Word War II.

Japan believes that a 2015 accord inked between Tokyo and Seoul and the paying of 1 billion yen (8.9 million U.S. dollars) last year to a South Korean fund to help former "comfort women" and their families as part of the deal would settle the matter.

But a South Korean civic group erecting a "comfort women" statue outside the Japanese Consulate General in the port city of Busan last December led to Japan recalling its ambassador to South Korea for three months by way of protest.

Prior to that, a "comfort women" statue was erected in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, which also irked Tokyo. Endit