S. Korea congratulates Japan's new Cabinet, urges 'mature' ties

SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government congratulated Japan on Friday on the launch of its new Cabinet led by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and urged Tokyo to forge "mature" bilateral ties.
"The government of the Republic of Korea extends its congratulations to the launch of Japan's new Cabinet," Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Byung-jae said in a statement, referring to South Korea by its official name.
"We hope that the new Japanese Cabinet led by Prime Minister Noda will continue to forge a mature and future-oriented and cooperative relationship with Korea, while it looks squarely at its past," Cho said.
Noda, Japan's sixth new leader in five years, unveiled his new Cabinet earlier in the day, by naming Koichiro Gemba, 47, as Tokyo's foreign minister.
Gemba, relatively young in Japanese politics, served as national strategy minister in the outgoing government.
South Korea recently saw its relations with Japan deteriorate because of Tokyo's renewed move to strengthen its territorial claim to Dokdo, which lies closer to South Korea in the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
Four Japanese lawmakers were banned last month from traveling to a South Korean island close to Dokdo in their attempt to renew Tokyo's claim to Dokdo.
Japan's claims over Dokdo have long been a thorn in relations between Seoul and Tokyo. South Korea rejects the claims as nonsense because the country regained independence from Japan's 36-year colonial rule in 1945.
kdh@yna.co.kr