BEIJING ― President Lee Myung-bak reiterated the need to face up to history to help enhance bilateral ties with Tokyo during his talks here with his Japanese counterpart, Cheong Wa Dae said Sunday.

On the sidelines of the annual talks between the leaders of South Korea, Japan and China, Lee and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda held bilateral meeting to discuss cooperation in security and business, and other issues of mutual concern.

“President Lee underscored (during the talks) that although the bilateral ties worsened due to historical issues, the two countries can strengthen their relationship when they gather their wisdom based on efforts to face up to history,” Lee’s office said in a press release.

Historical issues have been a persistent source of diplomatic friction between the two Asian powers. They include South Korean women forced into sexual slavery by Japan’s military during World War II. Tokyo’s sovereignty claim to Korea’s eastern most islets of Dokdo has also worsened public sentiment against Japan.

The two leaders also shared the view that any further provocations by North Korea are unacceptable, and that the international community should sternly respond to its bad behavior.

Nothing that their two-way trade volume reached $100 billion last year, the leaders appreciated the two countries’ deepening cooperation in business, trade, security and other areas.

Regarding the “comfort women” issue, Seoul has demanded that Japan sincerely devise a solution while the elderly victims of the wartime atrocities are still alive.

Last December, President Lee pressed his Japanese counterpart to address the issue, underscoring that the issue has been a stumbling block in the way of the two nations working toward a “mature, future-oriented” relationship.

Japan had argued that the issue was settled under a 1965 bilateral pact, while Seoul maintains that comfort women issues are separate from the deal and should be dealt with from a humanitarian standpoint.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)