Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye spoke informally Monday during an APEC dinner and agreed to move bilateral senior working-level talks forward, Japanese and South Korean government officials said.
Abe and Park were in Beijing to attend the two-day summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum through Tuesday.
In Tokyo, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said at his Tuesday news conference that the two leaders made the agreement to "advance in a smooth manner the director general-level talks between Japanese and South Korean foreign ministries which have been regularly held between Japan and South Korea since April."