Japan, South Korea should pursue new joint declaration: panelists

TOKYO -- Japan and South Korea should make a new joint declaration to update one issued a quarter of a century ago, in light of the recent warming of their relationship, panelists said at Nikkei's Future of Asia conference in Tokyo on Friday.

The neighbors signed a joint declaration after the Cold War in 1998, essentially updating the 1965 treaty on "basic relations" that had normalized ties. "They opened a new era," recalled Kenichiro Sasae, president of the Japan Institute of International Affairs, speaking in the final session of the forum.