On March 8th the South Korean Secretary for Foreign Trade, Mr. Bang Ki-Moon, met with LDP Secretary General Shinzo Abe and New Komeito Secretary General Tetsuzo Fuyushiba in the Japanese Diet buildings. Mr. Bang Ki-Moon referred to ways in which the friendly relations between Japan and South Korea could be strengthened, and alluded to progress made towards a bilateral FTA agreement between the two counties. While recognizing the need to speed up negotiations between the two countries for an FTA, Secretary General Abe also stressed the importance of further cooperation in the six-nation talks towards the de-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and requested South Korea’s assistance in the resolution of the abduction issue.

On the 8th of March a group of officials from the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee’s International Department visited Tokyo upon the invitation of the LDP, New Komeito and Democratic Party of Japan, and stayed until the 14th. The delegation was headed by Liu Hongcai, whose status equals that of China’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and whose future in politics is guaranteed. For the Chinese, the main objective of the meeting was to establish a formal consultative organ in which political dialogue could be carried out that would address the mutual problems faced by the two countries. The conference had its origins in a request made by Chinese officials for such an organ to Nukaga Fukushiro, Chief of the LDP Policy Affairs Research Council, and Kazuo Kitagawa, Chief of the New Komeito Policy Affairs Research Council during a trip to China in January 2004. The establishment of this council signifies Japan’s understanding and acceptance of their request.
Dialogue regarding its establishment was conducted on March the 9th, with both sides agreeing on the name “Convention for Exchange between the Ruling Parties of Japan and China,” and agreeing to conduct mutual visits once a year.
During their visit Chinese delegation were able to hold talks with party heavyweights and important government officials, including LDP Secretary General Shinzo Abe, LDP General Council Chairman Mitsuo Horiuchi, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Shoichi Nakagawa, Minister of Finance Takenaka Heizo, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Nobuteru Ishihara, and Defense Agency Chief Shigeru Ishiba, as well as former Prime Minister Nakasone and former LDP Vice-President Yamasaki Taku. The talks encompassed an exchange of opinions on China-Japan relations, the Yasukuni problem and economic issues.

On the 10th of March Takehiko Endo, Director-General of the LDP International Bureau, gave a lecture at a seminar on Geographical Indicators hosted by the European Union at a Tokyo Hotel. He stated: “while geographical indicators are an important guarantee of quality for producers and also for their native lands, from the point of consumers they must also be followed for the sake of food safety. Even though talks are ongoing in organizations such as the WTO, as a Japanese politician I propose actively pushing for the strengthening of the system.”