Lingering security concerns in the region seem to be bringing South Korea and Japan closer despite their long-standing animosity, with their defense chiefs Monday agreeing to work on pacts aimed at boosting military ties.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin (L) shakes hands with Japan's Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa (R) before their meeting at the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul, South Korea, Jan. 10, 2011. [Xinhua Photo]

South Korean 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".

"The ministers agreed that a series of provocative acts by North Korea (DPRK), including its shelling attack on Yeonpyeong Island and disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility, severely hamper peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia and agreed to closely cooperate on the issue," the defense ministry said in a press release.

"They also agreed to expand and enhance defense exchanges and cooperation to achieve future-oriented military relations," it said.

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 Seoul and Tokyo to share military intelligence on Pyongyang's weapons of mass destruction and its nuclear development.

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

Mullen, following talks with his South Korean counterpart last month, urged "much more trilateral cooperation" in response to security challenges Pyongyang poses in the region and suggested unprecedented three-way military drills.

Though the idea of staging such drills is generally viewed as politically unviable given the 35-year Japanese colonial rule of the Korean peninsula, South Korea and Japan took a symbolic step forward last year by sending observers to each other's military drills with Washington, the sole provider of security umbrella for them.

Still, officials here reject speculation that the two countries are considering a joint declaration on boosting bilateral security cooperation, a potential political hot potato in South Korea where memories of brutal occupation still linger and territorial disputes with Japan are a source of perennial headache.

Echoing concerns by some observers that closer ties with Japan might upset other regional powers, Seoul's opposition lawmakers cautioned against Monday's high-level defense talks, the first of its kind in nearly two years.

"We are concerned that the pact on protecting military information could further raise tension in Northeast Asia," the main opposition Democratic Party said in a briefing Monday.

"It should be taken into consideration that strengthening military cooperation with Japan without Japan's sincere repentance for its war of aggression would go against the public sentiment here," it said. "The discussions on military cooperation must stop immediately."