Japan ex-PM 'to meet South Korean leader to mend ties'

TOKYO: Former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso is planning to meet South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak in a bid to mend ties soured by a territorial dispute, reports said Saturday.

Relations between Tokyo and Seoul were badly damaged in August when Lee made a surprise visit to the Dokdo islands, which lie between the two countries. Japan claims them as the Takeshima islands.

Aso, of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party, will visit Seoul from Sunday to attend a two-day conference of the Japan-Korea Cooperation Committee, which includes parliamentarians and business leaders, Kyodo News and Jiji Press said, citing unnamed political sources.

He is planning to meet Lee on Monday.