Japan's new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda arrived here Tuesday on his first official two-day visit aimed at discussing, among others, bilateral trade and Japan' s wartime atrocities.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (R, Front) arrived at Seoul, South Korea, on Oct. 18, 2011. Yoshihiko Noda arrived here Tuesday on his official two-day visit in South Korea. (Xinhua/Park Jin Hee)

Japan has claimed its 1965 Treaty of Basic Relations with South Korea, which formally normalized their ties, already addressed all legal issues concerning the comfort women.

Tokyo has rejected Seoul's recent proposal for talks over compensating Korean wartime sex slaves, often euphemistically called "comfort women," angering South Koreans.

The two countries are also faced with a never-ending dispute over a set of islets lying halfway between them, as Japan continues to claim South Korea illegally occupies the sparsely inhabited islands.

Thorny issues aside, the Japanese leader, facing the sluggish economy at home, is expected to discuss a potential two-way free trade agreement between the two Asian economic powerhouses. Negotiations for the potential deal hit a snag in 2004 after Seoul and Tokyo failed to narrow down differences.

The two leaders are also expected to discuss the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s nuclear program as regional powers are seeking to bring Pyongyang back to the stalled six- party talks.

In an apparent attempt to mend diplomatic ties with Seoul, Noda has brought with him five Korean books looted by Japan during its colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula. The documents are part of the 1,205-volume collection of Korean archives from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), including texts of royal protocols known as "Uigwe".

The partial retrieval comes after Noda's predecessor, Naoto Kan, pledged last year to return royal Korean books in a friendly gesture marking the 100th anniversary of the colonization.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet