A Japanese women’s magazine says Japanese Emperor Akihito has expressed wishes to visit South Korea.

According to the latest edition of Josei Jisin, Emperor Akihito told Deputy Foreign Minister Koji Tsuruoka on September fourth that he and Empress Michiko would like to visit South Korea some day.

The emperor also reportedly told the deputy minister that he hopes Japan and South Korea will be able to continuously maintain friendly relations.

The emperor’s remarks come after President Lee Myung-bak said last month that Japan’s emperor should offer a sincere apology for his country’s colonial rule of Korea if he wants to visit South Korea.

The magazine also quoted a lawmaker as saying that the emperor had previously stated that he would not hesitate to issue an apology to South Korea for the sake of friendly relations between his country and South Korea.