By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak Monday sent a congratulatory message to Yukio Hatoyama, leader of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), on its landslide victory in general elections, expressing hopes for a "consolidated, mature partnership."
The party crushed the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and ended the conservatives' 54-year grip on power by winning more than 300 of 480 seats up for grabs.
"I am sure that Japan will achieve a consistent development and make a contribution to the world peace and mutual prosperity under the leadership of Chairman Hatoyama," Lee said.
"I expect the two countries to closely cooperate with each other in a bid to develop the bilateral relations into the consolidated, mature partnership," the President added.
Lee again congratulated Hatoyama on the victory over the phone later in the day.
South Korea's political parties also expressed hopes for the improvement of Korea-Japan ties.
"As the DPJ won the elections, all the emotional obstacles to developments in the relations are removed," said ruling Grand National Party spokeswoman Cho Yoon-sun. "We hope that Korea and Japan will have a genuine partnership in Asia."
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) said the elections results are expected to help jumpstart bilateral ties.
"The DPJ has shown a more liberal stance toward past history than the LDP, so it is expected to mark a turning point in the bilateral relations," DP deputy spokesman Song Doo-young said.
He continued, "We also want to stress that the improvement in the relations between Japan and North Korea could lead to the stability in Northeast Asia."
Spokesman Moon Tae-young of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade here also welcomed the victory but did not make any comment on plans to meet a change of government in the neighboring country.
Hopes for the better relations with Japan are growing here as the DPJ has put emphasis on Asia and relations with China and Korea.
Hatoyama has also pledged not to visit the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo where Class-A war criminals are enshrined along with the war dead unlike his predecessors like former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Senior Japanese officials' visits to Yasukuni have angered South Koreans and those from other Asian countries.
Additionally, the DJP leader promised to respect the so-called Murayama statement which apologized for Japan's colonial rule and wartime aggression.