TOKYO - Japan is seeking to improve its relations with the Republic of Korea (ROK) through a meeting in the Netherlands involving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, US President Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Abe said on Sunday.

The prime minister said before leaving for The Hague that he expects the trilateral meeting "to become the first step to establish future-oriented Japan-South Korea relations."

The trilateral meeting, which is on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit, marks the first face-to-face meeting between Abe and Park since they took office.

Bilateral relations between Japan and South Korea were strained due to Japan's attitude toward its wartime history and a territorial dispute.