TOKYO - SOUTH Korea's president-elect has said he would welcome a visit by Japanese Emperor Akihito and called for more 'mature' ties between the two neighbours, reports said here on Saturday.

No Japanese emperor has visited the Korean peninsula since World War II due to tensions between the two countries that date back to Japan's brutal colonial rule over Korea between 1910 and 1945.

Mr Lee Myung Bak, who takes office on Feb 25, said he would 'welcome a visit by the emperor to South Korea'.

Mr Lee also said he was ready to visit Japan as part of his regional diplomatic efforts.

Relations between the neighbours soured during the 2001-2006 premiership of Japan's Junichiro Koizumi, and no South Korean president has visited Japan since December 2004.

In 2005, incumbent President Roh Moo Hyun invited Emperor Akihito to become the first emperor to visit South Korea, but Tokyo said time was not yet right for his trip.

The emperor visited China, also a victim of Japan's wartime aggression, in October 1992, when he said he 'deeply deplored' his country's actions.

Mr Roh scrapped an agreement to hold two summits a year over Mr Koizumi's annual visits to the Yasukuni shrine, which venerates war dead, including criminals from World War II.

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who took office in September, has expressed his hope for the neighbours to restart the agreement, and Mr Lee welcomed his efforts to improve ties with Asian nations.

Mr Fukuda visited Beijing last month and plans to travel to Seoul for Mr Lee's inauguration next month. -- AFP

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