Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi met his South Korean counterpart Chung Eui-yong on Thursday and the two restated positions in a dispute that has brought tit-for-tat trade restrictions, but agreed to accelerate consultations to resolve the issue, according to Tokyo's account of the meeting.
Motegi and Chung met in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
A historic feud over Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula including over wartime labor and "comfort women," a euphemism for those who suffered under Japan’s military brothel system before and during World War II, has long soured bilateral ties between the two important U.S. allies.