South Korea, Japan agree to talk on disputed islands

SEOUL, May 23 (Reuters) South Korea and Japan have agreed to hold talks on their disputed maritime border next month after a meeting of their foreign ministers on the sidelines of a conference in the West Asia, Korean officials said today.

They said South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon and his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso -- meeting for the first time since December last year -- also agreed to work to improve ties that have been frayed by the dispute over islands which sit about the same distance from the two countries' mainlands.

The Asian neighbours defused a possible showdown in April when Japan agreed to call off a maritime survey and South Korea put off registering the Korean names of some underwater features near the disputed islands.

Previous negotiations on the maritime border broke down in 2000 and never resumed. The desolate islands are called Tokto in Korean and Takeshima in Japanese.

Ban and Aso were meeting on the sidelines of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue forum in Doha, Qatar.

The two countries will hold talks on redrawing the maritime border on June 12 and 13 in Tokyo, the South Korean foreign ministry said in a statement.

The disputed islands sit in rich fishing grounds, and Seoul's state gas firm says they lie above unexploited gas hydrate deposits.

South Korea sees Tokyo's claim to the islands as based on its 1910-45 colonial rule over the Korean peninsula. As long as Tokyo fails to properly address its militarist past, it would be impossible for the two to have friendly ties, Seoul has said.

Japan says its claim to the islands predates the colonisation of the Korean peninsula in the early 20th century.

REUTERS SI BST2041