Military pact between S.Korean and Japan tabled

If successful, the talks could result in the first military agreement since Tokyo's brutal colonial rule of the Korean peninsula ended in 1945.

While Seoul and Tokyo are important trading and diplomatic partners, the possibility of military cooperation is a contentious topic in South Korea, where many people still harbour strong resentment against Japan's 35-year occupation.

Bilateral ties often suffer over territorial and historical disputes stemming from the colonial legacy to this very day.

Monday's talks, however, came as Tokyo and Seoul struggle to deal with shared concerns over North Korean aggression, including the deadly shelling of a front-line South Korean island on 23 November.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and his Japanese counterpart Toshimi Kitazawa met Monday for talks on the military accords, North Korea's nuclear weapons programs and the artillery attacks, according to the South Korean Defense Ministry.

The accords are aimed at strengthening defence cooperation by sharing important intelligence, mostly on North Korea, and assisting each other's military with fuel and medical supplies during peacekeeping operations abroad, according to the Defense Ministry official.

The official, who requested anonymity citing the issue's sensitivity, said the accords won't be signed during Monday's one-day talks – and it is as yet unclear when the signing could happen.

Ahead of the talks, a dozen activists rallied near the Japanese Embassy in Seoul, chanting slogans like "We oppose (the accords)!" More than 20 police officers guarded the Embassy and watched over the demonstrators.