Leaders of South Korea, Japan agree to mend ties frayed over colonial past

The leaders of South Korea and Japan agreed to accelerate efforts to mend ties frayed over Japan's past colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula as they held their countries' first summit talks in nearly three years on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, both governments announced on Thursday.

The meeting occurred after Tokyo denied Seoul's earlier announcement they had agreed on the summit, in a sign of the delicate nature of their current relations.

During their 30-minute meeting on Wednesday in New York, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida shared the need to improve bilateral ties and agreed to instruct their respective diplomats to step up talks for that, Yoon's office said in a statement.

Kishida's office confirmed the meeting. A separate Japanese Foreign Ministry statement said the two leaders agreed to promote cooperation between the two countries as well as with the United States. It said the leaders shared the need to restore ..