South Korea and Japan hope to settle the issue of wartime compensation, which has contributed to the deterioration of bilateral relations, by the end of this year.
Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that he and his South Korean counterpart Park Jin welcomed working-level talks on the issue when they met in New York.
Japan’s conservative Sankei Shimbun daily reported late Saturday that Tokyo was working to postpone the meeting, citing multiple Japanese government officials.