Sharjah24 - AFP: As Seoul and Tokyo try to continue their "shuttle diplomacy" and heal relations in the face of escalating nuclear threats from Pyongyang, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida landed in South Korea on Sunday.

Kishida is making the first official bilateral visit by a Japanese leader to South Korea in over a decade. He first headed to Seoul's National Cemetery -- where war veterans, including from the fight against Japanese colonial rule, are buried -- to lay flowers and pay his respects.

Kishida will hold a key summit later in the day with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has made resetting ties with Japan a top priority for his administration. Yoon was in Tokyo in March for a fence-mending visit.

The East Asian neighbours, both crucial security allies of the United States, have long been at odds over historic issues linked to Japan's brutal 1910 to 1945 colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula, including sexual slavery and forced labour.

Kishida said Sunday ahead of his departure that the two leaders were working to resume so-called "shuttle diplomacy" -- paused for years during a bitter trade spat linked to the forced labour issue.

During their March summit, Kishida and Yoon agreed to end tit-for-tat trade curbs, with Kishida inviting the South Korean leader to a G7 meeting in Hiroshima this month.

Kishida said he was looking forward to "an honest exchange of views" with Yoon, "based on a relationship of trust".

Yoon is expected to host a dinner party at the presidential residence -- likely serving Korean barbeque -- and he may even cook for Kishida, according to local reports.

The fact that Kishida headed straight for Seoul's National Cemetery to pay his respects is noteworthy, Lim Eun-jung, an associate professor at Kongju National University, told YTN news.

"It is a rare scene for a sitting Japanese prime minister to visit, so it makes me watch very closely."