BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, BURNEI – Japan and South Korea agreed Monday to cooperate closely on developing bilateral relations currently strained by Japan’s perception of wartime history and a dispute over a pair of islets controlled by Seoul but claimed by Tokyo in the Sea of Japan, which South Korea calls the East Sea.

“I believe this meeting provided the start for building multilayered, future-oriented Japan-South Korea relations,” Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters after his first face-to-face talks with his South Korean counterpart, Yun Byung-se, on the sidelines of a regional security forum in Brunei.

It was also the first time in nine months that the foreign ministers of the two countries have held talks.

In an apparent reference to remarks earlier this year by Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto regarding Japan’s “comfort women” system of wartime military brothels and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s statement that the definition of “aggression” has yet to be fixed, Yun raised the issue of Japan’s perception of history.

Kishida explained Japan’s position that in the past it had caused tremendous damage and suffering in many countries, particularly Asian nations, and that consecutive Japanese governments — including the Abe Cabinet — have humbly acknowledged such historical facts, expressed deep remorse and genuine apologies.

Kishida told Yun that it is important for Japan to gain South Korea’s understanding of its position and win trust to advance bilateral relations, which they reaffirmed are “very important.”

“We would like (South Korea) to accept (Japan’s) perception and position (on history)” so the two sides can manage Japan-South Korea ties in a smooth fashion, he said.

Kishida quoted Yun as saying that South Korea wants to continue communicating with Japan and building trust with Tokyo.

But the envoys did not go as far as mentioning the possibility of a summit between Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Kishida said.

In April, Yun canceled plans to visit Japan to protest visits by Japanese Cabinet ministers to Yasukuni Shrine, the Shinto facility that honors Japan’s war dead, including Class-A war criminals, and is viewed by China and South Korea as a symbol of Japanese militarism.

The differences over history and simmering tensions between Japan and China over the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea led to the suspension of a trilateral summit involving Japan, China and South Korea that had been scheduled for late May.

Kishida and Yun met on the sidelines of meetings involving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its dialogue partners.