Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida held talks Saturday with South Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se in Myanmar's capital, with greatest interest focused on whether the meeting will pave the way for a summit between the leaders of the two countries.

The meeting was the first between the foreign ministers since last September, reflecting strained relations over a territorial dispute and differing perceptions of wartime history.

Kishida has expressed hope to develop relations from future-oriented and broader perspectives, especially as next year marks the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II and the 50th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties.

In the meeting, Kishida was expected to tell Yun that although Japan reviewed how a 1993 apology over Asian women forced to serve in wartime brothels was created, the government does not intend to revise the so-called Kono statement itself.

South Korea has criticized the review, saying it undermined the sincerity of the apology as stated by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono.

Yun was likely to repeat Seoul's demand that Tokyo settle the "comfort women" issue in a way that is agreeable to the surviving victims, including an apology and compensation. Japan has maintained that the issue of compensation was legally settled by agreements the two countries signed when normalizing diplomatic relations in 1965.

Since taking office in December 2012, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has yet to hold face-to-face talks with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who took office in February 2013.