Researchers in Japan and South Korea are working together to file a joint request to get historic materials documenting the Korean missions to Japan placed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register to help improve the strained diplomatic relationship.

The project targets registration of materials related to the so-called Joseon missions, which were dispatched to Japan from the Kingdom of Great Joseon as part of diplomatic exchanges between the two countries during the Edo Period (1603-1868).

Researchers from Aichi, Gifu and Mie prefectures in the Tokai region will gather the materials for the application to be filed in 2016.