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Senior officials from Japan and South Korea will meet in Tokyo on Thursday in a bid to smooth over a badly ruffled relationship.
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told a regular press conference that the officials would address "issues of mutual interest".
They will likely include lawsuits in South Korea demanding compensation from Japanese companies for wartime conscripted labor and Seoul's restrictions on importing Japanese marine products after the Fukushima nuclear accident, Kishida said.
South Korea's foreign ministry said the talks would focus on the sexual slavery practised by Imperial Japan in the middle of the last century, the country's Yonhap news agency reported.
The meeting will take place between Junichi Ihara, head of the Asian and Oceanian affairs bureau at the Japanese foreign ministry, and Lee Sang-Deok, South Korea's director-general for Northeast Asian Affairs.
"By ensuring communication at the bureau-chief level, we want to build up relations of mutual confidence and bring it to dialogue at a high political level," Kishida said.
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been rebuffed in his attempts to arrange a two-way summit with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye, who insists Japan must atone for its wartime wrongs, particularly its use of so-called "comfort women".
It is also angered by Abe's December visit to Yasukuni shrine, a symbol in Asia for what is seen as Japan's distorted view of history.
U.S. President Barack Obama pressured the two leaders -- key allies of the United States -- to hold their first direct meeting in March on the sidelines of an international gathering in the Netherlands.
Their narrowly focused agenda -- on North Korea -- did not disguise the evident tension between Abe and Park during photo shoots of the three.
Relations between Seoul and Tokyo are at their lowest level in years, strained by Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule of Korea and a territorial dispute over islets in waters between the two countries.
Wartime forced labor and the inflammatory subject of "comfort women" are both sources of Korean resentment.
Japan insists issues around reparation for individuals and their right to demand state compensation were fully settled when the two countries normalised ties in 1965.
The 1965 treaty included a reparations package of about $800 million in grants and cheap loans -- an eye-popping amount at the time.
The Japanese government has also issued numerous apologies for its wartime wrongs, but these are regularly undermined in Korean eyes by apparent backtracking by a minority of right wing politicians, including Abe.
The upcoming talks between senior officials are the second of their kind, and follow a meeting in Seoul in April designed to discuss the comfort women.
Briefing domestic reporters after the first talks, a South Korean official would only reveal that both sides had laid out their respective stances and agreed to meet again soon.
© (c) 2014 AFP
15 Comments
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StormR
Senior Japan, South Korea diplomats to meet Thursday
Maybe how about getting some young diplomats to meet instead .
Nenad Jovanović
Dont forget do discuss the politics from Korea in stealing Japan culture, and calling it own .
@StormR
In the societies where elders are sacred ? Not gona happen .
kyushubill
Some how I think this will not end well. When two bullies meet on a school yard ...
BertieWooster
If this is a real two way communication that leads to understanding, I'm all for it.
If, however, this is just another "ceremony," that ends in a cringeingly awful shot of two old men holding hands and smiling at the camera, please don't bother.
slumdog
Yes, I am sure saying something like this will allow the meeting to proceed swimmingly.
Louis Tan
Abesan told us to look busy. So we are making all these rips even when we know it is a pure waste of time. A..........so
SenseNotSoCommon
Increase the peace!
slowguy2
"Don't forget do discuss the politics from Korea in stealing Japan culture, and calling it own."
Funny, I was going to say: "Don't forget to discuss Japan still holding on to an estimated 200,000 pieces of artworks, historical documents and cultural treasures stolen from Korea"
The difference between the two claims, of course, is that Korea's claim is a valid one.
Sam Trumbull
Dear God,
Please, Please, Stop all of this bickering in NE Asia.
Amen
serendipitous
"The 1965 treaty included a reparations package of about $800 million in grants and cheap loans - an eye-popping amount at the time."
"The Japanese government has also issued numerous apologies for its wartime wrongs, but these are regularly undermined in Korean eyes......"
So Japan paid a huge sum, apologized multiple times but is still criticized because of a small group of right wingers. It seems that Korea is just looking to keep tensions high.
igloobuyer
Sure Korea has its political agenda and can be inflexible but this is an opportunity for Japan to finally show greater attitude of recognition and atonement. No money needs to change hands, no apologies need to be made, just show a more remorseful un-revisionist attitude, keep the right-wing guard quite and relations will warm.
toshiko
@slowguy2MAY. 14, 2014 - 11:52PM JST "Don't forget do discuss the politics from Korea in stealing Japan culture, and calling it own."A
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Funny, Japanese culture are modification of Chinese and Korean Culture. A lot of Korean artifacts have been found in old old burial sites called "kofun" in all over Japan. What culture? Kanji is from China. Japanese are expert in looking at another culture, religion, even cars and computers, ikebana, tattoo, you name it modify to create Japanese culture.
About younger people to talk, it is not going to do any good if young and young children talk together.
This is good especially N Korea plans to use another missile. S Korea and Japan has to be friendly.
oldman_13
All about the $$$
Ishiwara
@Storm R
Why do people always assume that young means better? The young Japanese are actually a lot more nationalistic than the post-war generation.
toshiko
2€Ishiwara: Also young people are more experts in anime and computer games, than diplomacy.