South Korea congratulated Japan on the launch of its new cabinet on Wednesday, voicing hopes for a future-oriented partnership based on the "right" understanding of shared history.

Seoul's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the statement after Shinzo Abe was re-elected as Japan's prime minister following his ruling coalition's landslide victory in the snap parliamentary elections last month.

"The (South Korean) government hopes to continue to cooperate with the Japanese government to develop the bilateral relationship into a future-oriented, cooperative partnership based on the right understanding of history," the ministry said.

The Seoul-Tokyo relationship has long been unstable due to their territorial and historical feuds. In particular, Japan's wartime sexual enslavement of South Korean women has been a major hurdle to their efforts to improve ties. Japan colonized Korea from 1910-45. (Yonhap)