Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara today arrived in Seoul for talks focusing on North Korea and other regional issues. During the day-long trip, he will meet his counterpart Kim Sung-Hwan and pay a courtesy call to President Lee Myung-Bak. His trip comes as the two neighbours seek closer diplomatic and military ties against threats posed by North Korea to regional security. Meanwhile, a South Korean newspaper today reported that China is in discussions with North Korea about stationing its troops in the isolated state for the first time since 1994. The paper says the troops would be deployed to the north-eastern city of Rason to guard Chinese port facilities. But it would also give the Chinese access to the Sea of Japan.