Japan, South Korea summit must overcome history to renew ties amid tensions

South Korean and Japanese leaders will meet in Tokyo this week, hoping to resume regular visits after a gap of over a decade and overcome resentments that date back more than 100 years. The two major Asian economies and U.S. allies have long hoped to cooperate on shared security concerns about China and North Korea, but previous rounds of diplomacy have foundered on unresolved issues from Japan's 35-year occupation of the Korean Peninsula.

Seoul has offered Tokyo concessions on South Korean demands for compensation over wartime forced labor, but it remains to be seen whether the South Korean public will accept reconciliation.

The AP explains what's kept the two neighbors apart, what they're expected to talk about, and why it matters for the region.

WHAT ARE THE ISSUES?

Japan effectively colonized the Korean Peninsula between 1910 and 1945, in a regime that imposed Japanese names and language on Koreans and conscripted many into forced labor or forced prostitution in military brothe