South Korea's Roh, Japan's Abe to meet Monday

SEOUL, Oct 4 (Reuters) New Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet South Korea President Roh Moo-hyun on October 9 in Seoul for a summit aimed at improving strained ties between the two neighbours, South Korea said today.

North Korea is also likely to be high on the agenda.

Pyongyang, which declared itself a nuclear weapons power in February 2005, said for the first time yesterday it would explode an atomic device.

South Korea and China had been avoiding meeting Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, because of his refusal to stop visiting a shrine that is seen by Seoul, Beijing and other victims of World War Two as a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

Reuters SBA VP0705