Japanese Ambassador to South Korea Yasumasa Nagamine met with Acting South Korean President Hwang Kyo-ahn on Thursday for the first time since he was recalled in January to protest the erection of a statue in Busan symbolizing the Korean women who were forced to work in wartime Japan's military brothels.
Nagamine had sought a meeting with Hwang upon returning to his post in Seoul last month, but the South Korean government did not comply, citing a diplomatic protocol.
"I fully conveyed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's feelings" to the acting president, Nagamine told reporters after the meeting in Seoul.