Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara says he is pushing to have Tokyo return Korean cultural assets including ancient royal books to South Korea in the near future.

In a news conference Friday, Maehara said that he wishes to return the assets at the earliest date possible and that he hopes to submit a related bill to the upcoming session of the Diet.

Maehara, however, didn’t make any guarantees, saying that what matters most is progress in working-level discussions. He warned that the bill may not be able to be presented during the extraordinary Diet session, which ends December third.