The RoK’s defense minister Kim Kwan-jin and his Japanese counterpart Toshimi Kitazawa agreed at their talks in Seoul to seek "future-oriented" bilateral military relations and start discussing two pacts designed to facilitate their ties, the defense ministry said.

They also raised their mutual security concern, calling the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s recent provocation "unacceptable".

Discussions on an accord on protecting shared military information will follow the talks, the ministry said. The so-called "General Security of Military Information Agreement", if signed, is likely to allow the RoK and Japan to share military intelligence on the DPRK's weapons of mass destruction and its nuclear development.

The talks came after a recent high-profile visit to the RoK by Adm. Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, who called for greater cooperation among the RoK, Japan and the US in the wake of the DPRK's attack on the border island on November 23, 2010.