S.Korea open to talks with Japan

Seoul, Nov 4 (IANS) South Korea is willing to hold talks with Japan, including a summit, and will continue to make efforts to improve bilateral ties, a senior presidential official said on Thursday.

The official made the remarks after President Moon Jae-in and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida did not hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a UN climate summit this week in Glasgow, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Kishida arrived in Glasgow hours before Moon left for Hungary for a state visit.

"We will look at whether there is an opportunity for talks or a meeting between leaders of Korea and Japan," the official told reporters.

During phone talks last month, Moon told Kishida that South Korea is willing to improve ties with Japan.

Relations between South Korea and Japan have been stuck in a row over Japan's wartime forced labour since Japan imposed export curbs against the South in 2019 in retaliation against South Korean Supreme Court rulings that Japanese firms should pay compensation to forced labour victims.