PHNOM PENH (Yonhap News) ― President Lee Myung-bak and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao took a swipe at Japan Monday for failing to fully shed its wartime past as they met on the sidelines of a regional summit overshadowed by history and sovereignty spats among the three neighbors.

The one-on-one meeting held on the margin of a regional summit in Phnom Penh highlighted tensions both South Korea and China have with Japan. Seoul and Tokyo have been at odds over Japan’s claims to South Korea’s easternmost islets of Dokdo, and Beijing has a similar row with Tokyo over a group of East China Sea islets.

Both South Korea and China are shunning bilateral summits with Japan they used to hold on the sidelines of annual summits hosted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The three countries are expected to skip a trilateral meeting as well.

During talks with Lee, Wen said he believes tensions with Tokyo flared because Japan “failed to liquidate militarism” while Lee said that Japan leaning further to the right could become “an unnerving element” in the region, according to senior presidential press secretary Choe Geum-nak.

Lee also said he believes the issues should be resolved “friendly and peacefully,” Choe said.

Lee and Wen also shared the view that North Korea should seek reform and openness, Choe said.

“No country in the world has any intention to invade North Korea,” Lee was quoted as saying. “South Korea will react if North Korea makes provocations. Otherwise, we always keep doors open for dialogue. North Korea should put a priority on people’s livelihoods and the economy.” Wen agreed with Lee’s view, Choe said.

Meanwhile, President Lee pledged to expand South Korea’s development assistance and other aids to Southeast Asia, an increasingly important region of vibrant economies with high growth potential.

In particular, Lee said South Korea will take advantage of its excellence in information and communication technologies to help facilitate economic growth and enhance connectivity in the region so as to narrow development gaps, the office said in a news release.

Noting that their trade volume reached an all-time high of $124.9 billion last year, the two sides pledged to work together to expand trade to $150 billion by 2015, the statement said. They also agreed to bolster cooperation in the areas of green growth and climate change, it said.

ASEAN has emerged as an increasingly important region to South Korea, with a combined population of 600 million and the GDP totaling $2.15 trillion. The region is South Korea’s second-largest trade and investment partner, with two-way trade reaching a record high last year.

Later in the day, Lee attended an “ASEAN plus Three” summit involving South Korea, China and Japan as well as the 10 Southeast Asian nations, and discussed ways to deepen financial, food and other cooperation among the partners, Seoul officials said.

In particular, the leaders adopted a joint declaration, dubbed “ASEAN Plus Three Partnership on Connectivity” aimed mainly at boosting physical, institutional and people-to-people connectivity among the ASEAN states so as to narrow development gaps in the region.

The leaders also welcomed an agreement to double the volume of a regional currency swap agreement, known as the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization, to strengthen the regional financial safety net, as well as a new roadmap aimed at advancing Asian bond markets.

They also reaffirmed their commitment to ensure the implementation of the “ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve,” a food stock formed with contributions from the members to be used when the supply becomes unstable in the region, officials said.