S. Korea vows maximum support for quake-hit Japan+

KYOTO, March 19 Kyodo -
South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Kim Sung Hwan vowed Saturday that Seoul will offer ''maximum support'' to people affected by last week's magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in Japan when he met with his Japanese counterpart Takeaki Matsumoto in Kyoto.
Kim said South Koreans ''share the pain'' of the Japanese people and some have begun collecting donations to assist the victims of the quake and ensuing tsunami. South Korea will provide additional relief supplies of 100 tons of water and 6,000 blankets to Japan, a Japanese official said.
He offered condolences to victims of the disaster and promised that the South Korean government, which he said thinks of the tragedy as its own, will extend ''maximum support to people who have lost family members and the basic infrastructure in their lives.''
Matsumoto told his guest, ''We Japanese feel South Koreans are our true neighbors who offer help when we're in need. I extend my heartfelt appreciation as a representative of Japan.'' South Korea was the first country to send relief assistance to Japan.
The first face-to-face bilateral meeting between Matsumoto and Kim took place before their trilateral meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Japan's ancient capital on Saturday evening.
Kim and Matsumoto, who assumed his post earlier this month, reaffirmed that the two countries and the United States will continue to work closely in dealing with North Korea.
The two ministers agreed that the North's uranium enrichment program revealed last November violates U.N. Security Council resolutions and that the international community needs to issue a strong message on the matter, the Japanese official said.
They agreed that inter-Korean talks should take place before U.S. and Japanese bilateral dialogues with the North that would precede the resumption of the six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing North Korea.
The six-way dialogue involving the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States have been stalled since December 2008.
On bilateral ties, Matsumoto expressed hope for an early resumption of negotiations on a free trade agreement that have been stalled since November 2004 due to differences over potential tariff cuts on farm and industrial products, and Kim said the matter will be discussed at an upcoming vice-ministerial meeting on the issue, the official said.
The Japanese foreign minister said both sides should make efforts so that the Japanese education ministry's screening of history textbooks in the spring would not have an adverse effect on bilateral ties, according to the official, who refrained from revealing how Kim reacted.
According to a conference source, Matsumoto made the remark in response to Kim's request that Japan deal with the situation cautiously so that it would not negatively affect bilateral relations.
Reference to Japan's claim over South Korean-controlled islets in the Sea of Japan, which are known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in South Korea, introduced in junior high school curriculum guidelines in 2008 has caused outrage in Seoul, rattling bilateral relations.
Matsumoto said the Japanese government will continue to seek parliamentary approval for the transfer of Korean archives that were taken to Japan during its 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula, which was promised by Prime Minister Naoto Kan last August ahead of the centenary of Japan's annexation of the peninsula.
The two foreign ministers also agreed to continue making arrangements for South Korean President Lee Myung Bak's visit to Japan, the official said.