Japan and South Korea will work together to push for the denuclearization of North Korea, and work with the United States to achieve world peace and stability, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and President Lee Myung Bak agreed April 21 in Tokyo.

Fukuda called North Korean issues the "biggest common agenda" for Tokyo and Seoul. Lee said he and Fukuda shared the view that the North's nuclear development threatens the peace of Northeast Asia as well as the rest of the world.

Lee's stance on building friendly ties with Japan on a number of issues is a clear departure from his predecessor, Roh Moo Hyun, who repeatedly appealed to anti-Japan and anti-U.S. sentiment in South Korea.

"We have no choice but to remember the history of South Korea-Japan relations. But we should not let the past prevent us from going toward the future," Lee told media.

He added that he would not respond in knee-jerk fashion to remarks by individual Japanese politicians on matters of history.

Statements by Japanese politicians over Japan's colonization of the Korean Peninsula have hampered the bilateral relationship and fanned nationalist sentiment in both countries.

During their meeting, the two leaders agreed to seek a "mature partnership" that encompasses issues of security, economic matters and cultural exchanges.

They also agreed to launch working-level talks in June to decide whether to restart negotiations on a free-trade agreement.

They agreed to double the current working holiday visa limit to 7,200 people from each side by 2009, to be increased further to 10,000 by 2012.

—Reiji Yoshida for The Japan Times