
TOKYO -- The Japanese foreign ministry's top bureaucrat and the South Korean ambassador to Japan have held their first meeting since taking office, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Tuesday.
Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeo Mori and Kang Chang-il are thought to have discussed compensation for wartime workers and "comfort women" during their short meeting, which took place Monday. Both topics have been longstanding sources of friction between the East Asian economies.