Cheong Wa Dae announced Tuesday that the administration is now in talks with Tokyo regarding a possible state visit by Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso in mid-January.
``The Japanese government has officially made a request to us for a visit to Korea and we are currently discussing the issue," stated Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Lee Dong-kwan.
The Japanese prime minister is reportedly asking to visit Seoul between Jan. 10 and 12. The Japanese government would consider the visit part of bilateral ``shuttle diplomacy," according to an earlier report by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper in Japan.
The two leaders met earlier this month during the first-ever trilateral summit involving leaders from Korea, China and Japan, where they discussed the current economic and financial crisis in the region and coordinated efforts to tackle the Asian economic slowdown.