Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will likely meet next week with a delegation dispatched to Japan by South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, sources with knowledge of the plan said Friday.
The meeting, expected to take place as early as Monday, would give Kishida an opportunity to hear how the administration of Yoon, who is calling for a "future-oriented" approach, would seek to improve bilateral ties strained over issues related to wartime history.
Japan has maintained that the ball is in South Korea's court to repair relations. The stance is based on the view that the issues of "comfort women" and compensation for wartime Korean laborers — both sources of diplomatic friction — have already been resolved by bilateral agreements.