Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and visiting South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Song Min Soon agreed on Wednesday in Tokyo to resume the working-level security dialogue at an early date next year.

The dialogue has been suspended since November 2003. Analysts said the latest decision showed the two countries' desire to mend bilateral ties which were severely damaged due to Japanese former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to the notorious war-related Yasukuni Shrine.

The two foreign ministers also agreed to continue joint efforts on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue under the framework of the six-party talks.

Soon met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier Wednesday. The two sides reaffirmed their wishes to construct future-oriented ties.

Japan is Song's first destination of official visit after taking office on Dec. 1 replacing UN Secretary General-designate Ban Ki-Moon.

In another development, Japan and South Korea normalized a mutual legal assistance treaty on Wednesday, strengthening bilateral cooperation on fighting cross-border crimes.

The treaty, which is aimed at expediting criminal investigations and trial proceedings of international crime involving both countries, enables law-enforcement authorities of the two countries to directly work with each other without going through diplomatic channels when cooperation is needed.

Japan and South Korea cooperated on 33 criminal cases in the past five years. A similar treaty between Japan and the United States took effect earlier this year.

(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2006)