Japan's Abe heads to S Korea after warm China visit

BEIJING, Oct 9 (Reuters) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe left Beijing for South Korea today after agreeing with Chinese leaders to repair relations and denouncing North Korea's plans for a nuclear test.

Beijing had refused to hold summits with Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi -- who stepped down last month -- because of his annual pilgrimages to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine for war dead, which is seen by critics as glorifying Japan's past militarism.

But Chinese leaders struck a conciliatory tone on the first visit by a Japanese leader to Beijing in five years.

And Abe expressed ''deep remorse'' for past Japanese actions as, in a break with tradition, he made the first overseas trip by a new prime minister to China rather than to the United States.

''Abe's trip to Beijing gives leaders of both countries an opportunity to salvage bilateral ties bogged down by Koizumi's disregard of his neighbour's sensitivities,'' the China Daily said in an editorial.

Chinese leaders accepted in principle an invitation from Abe to visit Japan, China's foreign ministry said.

State television also quoted Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao as saying China and Japan should keep up mutual visits by state leaders.

In Seoul, Abe will hold talks with President Roh Moo-hyun that are also expected to focus on last week's threat by reclusive North Korea to conduct a nuclear test, an issue high on the agenda during Abe's visit to Beijing.

Abe said the possibility that North Korea would make good on its threat could not be ruled out, adding that if it did so the United Nations would discuss invoking Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which could lay the groundwork for military force.

China is host of now-stalled six-party talks involving the two Koreas, the United States, Japan and Russia aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear programme.

China and Japan pledged in a joint statement to elevate relations to a strategic level and speed up talks on disputed energy resources in the East China Sea.

Abe's Beijing visit is seen as a chance for a fresh start for the two countries, whose economic interdependence has grown despite the political chill. China replaced the United States as Japan's top trade partner in 2004, and Japan's trade with China -- including Hong Kong -- reached 212 billion dollars last year.

Abe, at 52 the first Japanese prime minister born after World War Two, has defended Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni. Abe has also paid his respects there in the past, but again declined yesterday to say whether he would do so as prime minister.

Experts have warned that his diplomacy could backfire in Beijing and Seoul if he later visits Yasukuni.

REUTERS DKS RAI0651