Visiting Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will head back home on Thursday afternoon after concluding two days of summit talks with President Roh Moo-hyun.
During a stroll on the South's resort island of Jeju early Thursday morning, the two leaders vowed to strengthen cooperation to seek a peaceful resolution to North Korea's nuclear standoff.
In a joint news conference earlier on Wednesday, Roh expressed hope that the next round of multi-lateral nuclear talks, scheduled for September in Beijing, would gain momentum towards a solution to the atomic impasse. He added that Pyongyang could expect to receive massive economic aid from Seoul if it abandons its nuclear ambitions.
Koizumi, meanwhile, said that if North Korea honors the terms of an accord signed with Japan in 2002, Tokyo would push to establish diplomatic relations with Pyongyang in the next year or two.
The two leaders also agreed to exert efforts for a swift signing of a bilateral free trade agreement and to discuss the possibility of fully exempting visa requirements for South Korean travelers to Japan.